hello, clairvoyant? humanoid rat speaking
by LightningRooks
Summary: there was an old payphone in the abandoned subway station where splinter and his sons lived- one that he'd assume had been discontinued years ago. one morning in december, when raphael was ill, splinter was proven wrong. splinter & oc friendship, turtle tots era. complete
1. the first and second calls

the first phone call came around mid december, when the lair was freezing and raphael was ill. it had been four years since splinter had been mutated, along with four turtles he had taken in as his sons. they lived in an old subway station, with an old payphone that yoshi had assumed had been disconnected years ago, but that day he was proven wrong.

he'd been up all night, taking care of raphael and trying to keep the others away from their brother- he couldn't afford anymore of them getting sick.

the phone ran at six in the morning, and by the time he found where the sound was coming from, the phone had stopped ringing. he waited for a moment, to see if the phone would ring again. sure enough, not even a full minute later, the phone rang again. splinter debated for a moment before picking up the phone.

"hello?" he said, voice hoarse from lack of sleep.

"you'll find a bag of medicine and food outside the abandoned station entrance in about ten minutes," said a feminine voice, who hung up abruptly.

donatello and michelangelo had gathered around him, looking at the telephone curiously. splinter stared at the handset for a moment before placing it back in it's holder.

"what was that?" donatello asked.

"i...do not entirely know," splinter replied. he closed his eyes and mulled over what to do.

the designated place wasn't far away- just a few yards down the tunnels and up a flight of stairs, but...who was this woman? how did they know anything about his situation? how did she know to call a pay phone in an abandoned subway station? everything about this situation pointed towards a trap, but there was no one left to leave a trap for him. to the world, hamato yoshi was dead.

so who was this woman who knew where he was and what he needed?

he heard raphael coughing from the other room, and ran back to check on him. seeing his son so ill made up his mind for him.

"i will be back later - do not enter raphael's room until i get back."

as the woman had said, there was a grocery bag filled with medicine and vegetables by the abandoned station. there were at least five different bottles of cold medicine and one precious bottle of antibiotics.

he smelled the first bottle of cough syrup, and anxiously gave half a dose to raphael. time seemed to crawl by as he waited for any negative reactions to the medicine- would human medicine even work on a mutant turtle? had the medicine been tampered with in some way?

half an hour later, there seemed to be no side effects of the medicine, and raphael seemed to be breathing easier, so splinter gave him the other half a dose of medicine. while staying at his son's side, he began to examine the food.

there were three oranges, wrapped in paper towels to keep them from freezing, a plastic container of frozen chicken noodle soup, and three cans of ginger ale.

when he went into the kitchen to heat up the soup, he saw leonardo and donatello taking off the front of the payphone and hooking it up to an old computer that splinter had salvaged for him earlier that year. mikey was sitting on top the payphone, legs dangling off the side.

"what are you three doing?" he asked, startled by the scene. donatello dismantling whatever electronics he could get his hands on was not unusual, but splinter was still unsettled by the call.

"donnie's gonna figure out the phone number of the herald!" mikey said, kicking his legs.

"the herald?" splinter asked.

"yeah! the person who called you earlier, that was a woman, right? and she knew things that no one else could know, right?"

splinter nodded. "yes, that's right. how do you know that?"

"well," donatello said, typing on his keyboard, "there have been a lot of strange calls like that, all over the world. a woman will call and give strange predictions, and then just hang up. the crazy thing is, she's always right. people have reported being told to go the doctors, only to find they have early stages of diseases that are treatable. she tells people to drive carefully on certain roads, and gives very specific instructions on how to avoid what she sometimes refers to as "the bad end." people from all over the world are trying to figure out who she is."

"she's like a superhero, except she doesn't fight!" michelangelo said moving to lay on his plastron on top of the payphone. "they talked about her on the news a few days ago.'

"but how does she know all of this?" splinter asked, kneeling to see what donatello was looking at.

"a lot of people think she can see the future," leonardo said, sitting next to donatello. "it's actually pretty cool."

"but that's imposs-" splinter started, before cutting himself off. he was a giant mutant rat man, living in an abandoned subway station with his four mutant sons. nothing was impossible, apparently. he looked down at the container of soup in his hands, and stood up.

"well, if you find out this...herald's phone number, let me know," he said, walking back into the kitchen to warm up the soup.

raphael recovered very quickly after that, and donatello became obsessed with uncovering the mystery of the herald. she had taken precautions to encrypt her phone so calls would be nearly untraceable, but it was no match for his son's genius and determination. after about three days, he figured out how to recover the phone numbers of everyone who had called the payphone.

"so can i post it on the forums, master splinter?" donatello asked, vibrating with excitement.

splinter shook his head. "no. that would be a massive invasion of privacy. she has respected our privacy, and so we should respect hers in turn."

"what do you mean, sensei?" raphael asked, brow furrowed.

"if she can see the future, then she saw what we needed and where to leave it. it is entirely possible that she saw what we are as well. as far as we know, she has not revealed this to anyone. however, i do think it would be a good idea to call her, and see how much she knows," splinter said, stroking his beard.

that was how the four turtles ended up huddled around the payphone as splinter dialed the phone number. what was he even going to say? _'hello, can you see the future, and did you know you were helping a mutant rat man?'_ splinter tried to push down the bubble of anxiety in his stomach.

the phone rang.

and it rang.

and it rang again.

then, it went to voicemail.

"your call has been forwarded to an automated voice message system. this user is not available. at the tone, please record your message. when you are finished recording, you may hang up, or press one for more options. to leave a callback number, press nine."

splinter was at a loss for words. instead of leaving a message, he merely pressed nine and hung up. he did not expect the herald to not answer the phone at all. the four turtles looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"i suppose," he said, "she simply isn't home."

"she'll call back though, right? we didn't go to all that trouble figuring out what her phone number was for nothing, right?" donatello said, frowning.

"i do not know," splinter said, kneeling down so he was on eye level with his son. "but i am very impressed that you were able to figure out her number. you are a smart child, donatello."

donatello glowed at the praise, but all the turtles were upset that the mystery woman hadn't picked up. all of the turtles were irritable for the rest of the night, and raphael, who was back to his argumentative self, had managed to pick a fight with leonardo.

splinter sighed, cleaning up the kitchen after his sons had gone to sleep. while he was washing dishes, the phone rang. he jumped, nearly dropping the dish, and ran over to the phone, trying not to wake up his sons.

"hello?" he said, his voice quiet. "is this the herald?"

"yes!" said a cheerful voice, though it had undertones of exhaustion. "sorry i didn't pick up earlier- i was at work. busy day, you know?"

"you work?" splinter said, surprised, before even thinking about what he was saying.

there was silence for a moment, and splinter worried he had offended her, but then laughter erupted, loud and joyful. he was confused for a moment, before the voice on the other line said through gasps, "that's what you're surprised? that i work? dude, being a phone psychic isn't a full time job- hell, i don't even charge anything. of course i work."

"oh," he said simply, his ears burning with embarrassment.

"anyway, what did you call me for? i'm impressed that you even managed to get my number- i really didn't see that coming." there was a pause. "that was clairvoyant humor, by the way."

"so it's true then? you can see the future?" splinter said, careful not to raise his voice.

"mm, well, yes and no. yes, i can see the future, but not quite the way you're envisioning," she said, and in the background he could hear the sound of a microwave. "i can only see the future as i can actively change it."

"as you can change it?" splinter repeated, confused.

"yeah. for example- all i could see was dropping off the bag at the abandoned station entrance and calling you," the voice said, a beeping sound on the other end indicating that whatever was in the microwave was done. "i couldn't see who you were, or why you need the medicine- or why you're living in an abandoned station, for that matter. but once i had called you a new set of branches revealed themselves, and while i could see this future, where you call me, the chances of it actually happening were quite slim."

splinter felt weak with relief. she had no idea who - or what - he and his family were. however, her explanation only brought on more questions.

"why would you help me if you had no idea what was wrong? how could the future version of yourself even know what we needed if you didn't learn until after? and what do you mean by branches?" he questioned.

there was a pause. "well, you just have look at the bigger picture. what i can see isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things. when i saw myself leaving the bag and calling you, i was looking into a different branch, one where i _did_ know you and what you needed. it's the same way with all my other calls. i look into different timelines where i do know what's happening."

splinter was having a difficult time wrapping his head around all of this. "i'm afraid you've lost me," he said, massaging his temples.

the voice laughed. "yeah, it's kinda hard to explain. uh, i guess the simplest way to put it is that i'm exploiting loopholes in my powers to see things in other timelines, and i use that information to help people. including you."

"alright," splinter said, nodding even though she couldn't see him.

"i should probably get going. i think it goes without saying but, uh, please don't give out my number. i like to keep a low profile about all this," the voice said, chuckling nervously. "but, uh, other than that, do you have anymore questions?"

he would later think of a thousand and one questions he should have asked, but at the moment he could only think of two.

"yes," he said. "what should i call you? and will i ever speak to you again?"

the voice exploded into laughter again, much to splinter's surprise. "goodness, don't sound so dramatic! i mean, you've got my phone number- you're free to call me anytime. and as for what you should call me...just...don't call me 'the herald.' i really hate that title. call me nova," she said. "and what should i call you?"

splinter paused. he certainly wasn't going to give her his true name, but should he give her the name he went by now? no one but he and his sons actually knew that he went by splinter now, so there was no harm in it…

"splinter. please, call me splinter," he said.

"well, it was nice to meet you, splinter," nova said, not questioning the odd name. "you can call me tomorrow, if you want- well, actually i'm on call all day, so whether or not i'll be here is up in the air. but i'll get back to you as soon as i can."

splinter nodded, before realizing that she couldn't see him. "alright," he said, "i will call you sometime tomorrow then."

"okay," nova replied. it was silent as they each waited for the other to hang up.

"i'm going to hang up now," nova finally said, and splinter nodded again before replying.

"right."

nova finally hung up. he placed the phone back in the receiver and then realized: the boys were definitely going to want to talk to her. he'd have to make sure the boys didn't mention where they lived, or what they were.

he sighed. the boys would be upset that the herald- that nova had called while they were asleep. he shook his head- what was he even doing? he had called nova to see if she knew what they were, and to find out if she was trustworthy- now he was going to be phone pals with a clairvoyant?

as he walked back to the kitchen sink, he wondered if his life could get _any_ weirder.

* * *

author's note: so, what did you think? i headcanon the turtles as mutating into toddlers, so they're around 7 years old mentally here. which is why donnie is able to take apart the phone and figure out nova's phone number. donnie's a genius, but i doubt he could do all that stuff at four years old.  
the reason splinter asks if he'll ever talk to her again is because he is INCREDIBLY lonely in the sewers. he has his sons, but sometimes he just wants to talk to someone his age (or around his age). that's also why he agrees to call her again too.

please, leave a comment and tell me what you thought! you can catch me lightningrooks on tumblr


	2. the third and fourth calls

as expected, the boys were sorely disappointed that the herald- nova, he corrected them- had called while they were asleep. though splinter relayed the entire conversation, the boys asked question after question about the mysterious nova.

"what did she sound like?"

"what kind of work does she do?"

"wait, why doesn't she like being called the herald?"

"don't her powers sound kind of convoluted?"

the other turtles stopped to look at donatello, confused at his question.

"what does con-va-looted mean?" michelangelo asked his brother.

"it means they're unnecessarily complicated. she can see the future but only her future? and she can see into other timelines where she knows people and uses that information to help people too? it seems...messy. and not really well defined."

splinter looked at his son, surprised at his analysis of nova's powers. he had been confused when she had described her powers last night, but he had been wondering if perhaps her explanation had gone over his head.

"she's a superhero, donnie! who cares if her powers aren't well defined?" leonardo asked, clearly entranced by nova's powers.

"but she doesn't fight any bad guys," raphael said, arms crossed. "how can she be a superhero if she doesn't fight bad guys?"

"you can ask her all these questions yourselves when we call her later," splinter said, cutting off both leonardo and michelangelo. this stopped chatter, and all the turtles turned back to him. then, they all shouted at once.

"we're gonna call her again?!" they all said at the same time.

he raised his hand, motioning for silence. "we won't unless you all behave," he said, which made the turtles sit up straight and at attention. he smiled. "that's better. now, you all have your studies, and if you all do well, we will all call nova this afternoon."

the boys cheered, excited to meet the mystery woman who had saved their brother and saw the future.

"however," splinter said sternly. "you must not say anything about us being mutants, or living in this subway station-" he cut himself off, remembering that she knew they lived inside the abandoned station. "nevermind the last part. she cannot know what we are. she most likely believes that we are homeless humans, living in this abandoned station. let her think that. we can't have her telling anyone about us."

"sensei, if it's so dangerous for us to be talking to nova...why are we?" donatello asked.

splinter found he really couldn't give a good reason for it, other than the fact that he wanted to. good god, was he really that lonely? lonely enough to try and befriend a woman who knew far too much about him and his family for his liking? a woman who could, at any time, storm down into the lair and see what they were?

at the very least, he should call her and make sure she wouldn't come down into the sewers. the...excitement of talking to a human being his age had made him forget the very real dangers that talking to nova presented.

"we are going to make sure nova doesn't visit us, and then...we may cut off contact with her, depending on how the conversation goes," splinter said. while it would be nice to have a friend on the outside, his family came first. if nova proved to be a threat to his sons, he would deal with her.

after the boys had studied both english and japanese, splinter finally decided it was time. the turtles gathered around the phone as splinter went over with them again what they could and could not say.

anxiety bubbled up in him again, even fiercer than it had yesterday. he suddenly felt too hot under all his fur, and his hands grew clammy. very aware that his sons' eyes were on him, and that he had to make sure nova wasn't going to walk right into their lair, splinter dialed her number. once he had dialed the number, he knelt down so the phone was in the middle of the circle that the five of them had formed.

it rang three times before nova picked up.

"hello?" she asked over loud music blaring in the background.

"nova?" he said, caught off guard by the music.

"oh, hey! gimme a second!" nova shouted, and there was shuffling until the music finally stopped. "hi! how are you?"

the turtles looked at one another and then at their father.

"we're doing fine," he said, "but what was that loud music?"

"we?" she repeated, confusion clear in her voice.

he wanted to slap himself. she didn't know about his sons. of course she didn't- she must've assumed the medicine was for him! he had given away another major piece of information about his family- something he'd just warned his sons about before he called her.

this call was off to a great start.

"y-yes," he said, only stuttering a little. "my sons and i. they wanted to talk to you- especially raphael. he was the one who the medicine was for."

raphael gave him a look that said 'i have no idea what you're talking about, dad, but how dare you put me in this situation.'

"you have kids?" nova asked, clearly surprised.

"that's what you're most surprised about?" splinter said, echoing what nova had said last night about his surprise at her having a job. "that i have children?"

"well, yes, actually," nova said, concern obvious in her voice. "from what i can tell, you live in an abandoned subway station. that's not an ideal place for children."

the concern in her voice surprised him, and he was filled with an odd mixture of anger and shame. anger because he had no choice but to live underground in filth, and shame because he knew his sons' deserved better than an abandoned subway station.

"if i had any other choice," he said, his voice deadly calm, "believe me, i would."

nova hummed over the line. "could you go to a homeless shelter?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"no," he said firmly. "we have no other choice."

nova was silent for a few moments. "alright," she said, relenting. "but if you need anything- blankets, food, portable heaters...let me know, okay? i know how hard it can be to be homeless in winter, especially as a kid."

he found himself moved at her unexpected kindness. his sons looked at him, eyes wide. this woman was proving to be the exact opposite of what splinter told them that humans were like. a part of him, the part that was still too proud for his own good, shrunk away from the idea of this woman he didn't even know's charity. but a much larger part knew he couldn't afford to refuse her help. not when she could be what got his sons through the winter.

"i could never hope to pay you back," he said quietly.

"no, no, no," nova said. "i don't expect you too."

"why are you doing all this?" raphael asked suddenly. "not just helping us, but helping all the other people you call and stuff?"

nova paused, and whether she was thinking about an answer, or was confused at the new voice.

"that was raphael," splinter said, shooting his son a stern look at talking before splinter had told her that his sons were listening.

"oh, okay," she replied, and then sighed. "as for why i help people...i have this power, this ability to see the future...i guess i just feel compelled to use it to help people. what else am i going to do with it?"

her reasons for helping people seemed extremely weak, he noticed, and he was certain that there more reasons that she wasn't talking about. he let it go for now, since she might not be comfortable talking about those reasons in front of his sons.

"come on, that can't be it!" leonardo said pouting. "every superhero has a tragic backstory or some special reason for saving people!"

"leonardo!" splinter scolded. "do not pressure her to reveal things she does not want to!"

"sorry," leonardo said, looking down at his feet.

throughout the exchange, nova had been silent. when she spoke up again, she sounded…subdued.

"you're right," she said. "i haven't told you all the reasons why i use my powers to help people, but the reasons i haven't said are deeply personal, and i'd rather not reveal them to people i barely know."

splinter had never thought that nova might have reservations about him and his family. she'd seemed so open and honest...of course she would have doubts about them.

"anyway, who else is there besides you, raphael, and leonardo?" she asked, with some of her pep back. "i don't mean to pry, but i would like to know who else is listening in on this conversation."

"oh, well there's leonardo, raphael, donatello, and michelangelo," splinter said. "i had meant to tell you earlier but…"

"don't worry about it," nova said, but there was something in her false cheer that made him think she was more upset about having others listen in on their conversation. "i mean, you did say your kids wanted to talk to me- i guess i just didn't put two and two together."

there was a silence as both parties tried to figure out how to carry on the conversation.

"don't come over to our house, okay?" donatello suddenly burst out, startling everyone.

"i...wasn't going to?" nova said, confused by his outburst. "i'll respect your privacy if you respect mine."

now it was splinter's turn to be confused. "what do you mean by that?"

there was a laugh, but it was nervous and bitter all at once. "you really don't realize how much power you have over me, do you? you could easily look up who i am from my phone- or, hel- heck, you could just release my phone number, and someone else could look up who i am."

everyone was silent again. then, alarms started going off on nova's end, loud and frightening for the turtles (and splinter).

"shit, i have to go," nova said, and before anyone ask what was going on, she hung up.

they all stared at the phone in splinter's hand, which made a low, droning sound before he finally hung it up.

"alarms are bad," donatello said quietly. "she's…she's going to be okay, right?"

"what were the alarms for?" michelangelo asked, looking very afraid.

splinter sighed. "they seemed to be fire alarms. since she heard them right away, she will probably be able to get out in time- if there even is a fire. it could simply be a drill. we will have to watch the news to see if there are any fires around here."

the five of them spent all afternoon in front of the television, and sure enough, there had been a fire in an old apartment complex. there were no casualties, but the fire raged on all day, and the fire department worked for at least four hours on putting the fire out.

"where is nova gonna live now?" michelangelo asked after it was all over, and the fire department was packing up their equipment.

"we don't know if it was her apartment building," splinter said, reassuring his son, though he too was anxious to hear from her again, to make sure she was safe.

for some reason, he found himself watching the firefighters in the background- in particular, one tall woman who was taking off her heavy coat to reveal a toned body underneath. tattoos ran up her forearms, and though he could not tell from such a distance, the tattoos seemed to be some form of script.

he absentmindedly thought that she was rather attractive- then he shook his head, wondering where that had come from.

"should we call her? just to make sure?" leonardo asked, looking back in the direction of the payphone.

"if she had a landline phone, then it was destroyed in the fire," donatello said.

michelangelo got up and started walking to the phone, either to wait or to try to call her. splinter got to his feet and followed his son.

when the phone did ring about ten seconds later, everyone in the lair ran to it. michelangelo picked up the phone, immediately shouting into it.

"are you okay?" he shouted into the phone.

"michelangelo!" splinter scolded, but waited patiently for him michelangelo to hand him the phone.

"uh-huh," he said into the phone. "yeah. yeah, he's right here!"

michelangelo handed him the phone at last, which he quickly pressed to his ear.

"are you alright?" he asked, trying to keep his emotions out of his voice.

"yeah, i'm fine! sorry i worried you all so much," nova said, clearly exhausted.

"don't be sorry," he said, as if he was scolding her. "where will you stay?"

"where will i-?" nova repeated, confused. "oh no, it wasn't my apartment building that burnt down."

"oh?" splinter asked. "then what were the alarms for?"

"our building is next door to the one that burnt down, so we had to evacuate as well," she said. "it was pretty scary for a while, but our building wasn't touched."

splinter finally relaxed for the first time that day. "that is good to hear," he said, sighing in relief.

"yeah," nova said. she paused for a moment. "about what i was saying before...you guys know a frightening amount of information about me, even if you don't realize it. as long as you respect my privacy, i promise to respect yours."

another weight lifted off his shoulders as nova continued. "now, if you wanna keep calling me, and you know, be friends or whatever...i'd like that."

now that he was fairly certain he could trust nova, splinter relented to his desire for friendship. he did want a friend- someone outside the strange world he now lived in- to talk to.

"i would like that as well," he said, nodding.

"alright, well, i'm exhausted," she said, letting out a laugh. "i'll call you back later - or tomorrow, if that works better?"

"tomorrow would be best, i think," he said, looking at his sons, who were huddled around him.

"tomorrow it is!" she said. "well, talk to you tomorrow!"

splinter nodded again. "talk to you tomorrow."

nova hung up, and splinter turned to look at his sons. before he could speak, however, michelangelo piped up.

"sensei, why do you nod a lot when you're on the phone?" he asked.

* * *

author's note: splinter constantly nodding as he's on the phone is quickly becoming my favorite running joke in this fic.

also nova is lying BIG TIME when it comes to the alarms and her apartment building :3c

the bit about nova's powers being convoluted early in the chapter is more of a self aware joke at my expense. i know my description of her powers is a bit...confusing. donatello and raphael are the most suspicious of nova, and leo and mikey think she's kinda cool

please comment and tell me what you think! you can always catch me on my tumblr lightningrooks!


	3. the fifth call

two weeks went by, with calls from nova every other day. usually she'd call later at night, when the boys were asleep- they both preferred it, as they could talk without the boys demanding to speak to her. this arrangement also came after his sons started parroting back any swear words nova let slip through. she tried not to swear, but after donatello said "fuck" for the first time, they had decided it was best to just keep the conversations between the two of them. more and more, splinter began thinking of the clairvoyant as a friend.

he learned many things about nova over the past two weeks- she wrote music and had gotten a minor in music composition in college. this wasn't her primary job, but rather something she did when she wasn't working. he knew she worked around fifteen days a month, but when she did work she worked twenty four hour shifts. he still didn't know what she did, but he could live with that.

she told him that she had just moved to america from france. when he commented on her american accent, she laughed and said she'd only been in france for a few years. she said she'd never really settled down anywhere, and that she had traveled the globe before living in france.

he asked if the reason she moved so frequently was because of her clairvoyance. she said yes.

in turn, he revealed several things about himself. he'd told her that he'd just moved to new york city from japan. she expressed sympathy for him, that his new life in a new country had ended up with him homeless. he brushed it off.

he told her about his love of renaissance art, to which she laughed. she'd said it was obvious by the names he had given his sons. she wasn't crazy about renaissance art herself, but she knew some basic art history. she listened to him talk about renaissance art just the same, however.

he was grateful.

but simply having a friend didn't fix everything.

 _'i should have died in that fire.'_

splinter allowed himself to stay in bed longer that morning until leonardo tiptoed into his room.

"sensei?" he said quietly. "um, we were wondering if you could make breakfast soon- mikey's hungry."

he sat up, looking at his eldest son, and shook his head- not to deny his son, but rather to shake the thoughts from his head.

"of course. my apologies for making you all wait," he said, standing up. leonardo held onto the skirt of splinter's yukata as they walked to the kitchen, where raphael was giving his youngest brother a noogie.

sighing, splinter separated the two without a word before moving on to prepare breakfast. this seemed to surprise all four of the turtles- usually he scolded raphael whenever he got into fights. but this silence? the turtles didn't know what do with it.

"sensei?" michelangelo asked, climbing on one of the chairs. "are you okay?"  
 _  
' now i'm worrying the children._ '

he turned around to smile at them, and nodded. "i will be fine, michelangelo," he said, forced cheer in his voice. all but michelangelo seemed convinced.

as he scooped the fluorescent colored algae and worms onto a plate for each of the boys, he had to fight to suppress a shudder. the thought of eating it made him want to vomit.

 _'i'll eat later.'_

"aren't you going to eat too, sensei?" michelangelo asked.

splinter shook his head. "no, i am not hungry," he said.

michelangelo pushed his plate away. "i'm not hungry either, then."

splinter sighed. "michelangelo, not today, please."

the small turtle was adamant. "nu-uh! i'm not eating if you aren't!"

"michelangelo, please," he pleaded with his youngest.

"no!" he shouted, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

splinter shot his son a stern glare, which would usually get any of his sons to stop misbehaving, but for some reason his son refused to back down. he sighed.

"if i eat breakfast, will you eat as well?" splinter said, too tired to argue today. michelangelo nodded.

so splinter did end up eating that morning, though it was a struggle to keep it down. michelangelo ate with such gusto that splinter knew he was simply trying to be difficult. this confused splinter- michelangelo wasn't usually difficult on purpose.

"what are we going to learn today, sensei?" raphael asked.

training would do him good. it would help him feel better, help him take the weariness out of his bones. but he really didn't want to train. he didn't want to do anything. he wanted to go back to bed and sleep.

 _'i would be better off dead.'_

but looking at his children's faces, he knew he had to do something to keep himself busy. to keep these frightening thoughts at bay. he forced a smile.

"you will just have to see, will you not?"

the training did help. even after the turtles were done for the day, he continued to train. once he got started, it was easier to keep going. he trained until his fur was slick with sweat and his muscles ached, hoping if he worked himself to exhaustion, he wouldn't have any nightmares. it had worked before. after lunchtime, where he did manage to eat a full meal, his sons studied first english and then japanese.

during their lessons, they all seemed to have sensed something was wrong with their father, and acted on their best behavior. while he felt guilty that he had let his emotions show enough to alarm his children, he was extremely grateful for their good behavior.

it was in the middle of the boy's japanese lesson when nova called. the call was hours ahead of schedule, and the second the boys heard it, they raced over to the phone excitedly.

"don't touch the phone!" splinter shouted. it was a rule they had made since nova started calling. while it was incredibly unlikely that anyone else would call them, there was still a chance that it could be someone other than nova.

splinter walked over to the phone, with michelangelo having climbed on top of the payphone again. donatello, leonardo, and raphael crowded around him as he picked up the phone.

"hello?" nova said, her voice softer and more subdued.

because they could never be sure if it was nova calling, she always greeted him first.

"hello," he said, concerned by her tone. "is everything alright?"

"oh-! yeah i'm fine," nova said, all her pep coming back. "no, i just...now i know you don't like me looking ahead in our conversations…"

it was true, he hated it when nova "looked ahead." it was what they called the instances when nova would see the end to all of splinter's sentences and finish them for him, or, even worse, reply to him before he could finish.

"...but, i did," she continued, "and i'm going to leave a care package in the same place where i left the medicine."

he would be touched by her compassion if he didn't feel so guilty for making her worry. they hadn't even interacted yet today and she still knew that he was having an awful day.

"you don't have to…" he said, shaking his head.

"don't even start that. i know i don't have to," she said softly, gently. "i want to. because someone did the same things for me on my worst days."

"thank you," he said, unsure of what else to say. he became aware of his sons eyes on him, and realized that they were listening to every word he had said. he couldn't accept anything purely for himself anymore. his sons came first. "but i cannot-"

"oh, don't worry!" nova said. "i put something in there for your boys too!"

for once splinter was grateful for nova's impatience, but the sigh he gave was misinterpreted. "sorry! it's a bad habit!" she said sounding embarrassed.

"no, do not worry about that," splinter said as michelangelo stared him down, wanting to speak to nova. he shook his head, and michelangelo whined. "no, michelangelo," he said as his youngest son reached out for the phone.

nova chuckled on the other end. "what's he up to?" she asked, familiar with michelangelo's antic's by now.

"he's trying to grab the phone from me," splinter explained, stepping back out of michelangelo's reach.

"i see," she said, laughing. there was another voice in the background, to which nova responded, thought it was muffled. she must have covered the phone with her hand. "listen, i've gotta drop this off in the next fifteen minutes- my coworker has to leave after that."

"i did not know you were working today," splinter replied. "you said you would leave it in the abandoned station entrance? the same place you left the medicine?"

"yup! that's the place!" nova said, cheerful.

"alright, i will see you there," splinter said before thinking. "wait, i meant-"

"no, i get what you meant," nova said, interrupting.

"right," he said. there was an awkward silence.

"okay, so i'm going to head there now," nova said, finally breaking the silence.

"alright. thank you," he said again.

"don't worry about it," she said. "okay, i'm hanging up now."

"alright," splinter repeated.

when he hung up the phone, he was faced with a very pouty michelangelo.

"i wanted to talk to her," he said, crossing his arms. splinter chuckled, picking his youngest up and carrying him to the common area.

"do not be too disappointed, michelangelo," splinter said, setting him down. "nova is going to give us presents."

the turtles collectively gasped at that news, then erupted into excited chatter. they hadn't gotten presents since their mutation day, and whenever splinter did go out scavenging, it was to gather things that the whole family needed.

"but!" he exclaimed. "if i find that any of you have misbehaved while i am out, none of you will receive your gifts."

after establishing the rules, splinter set out for his destination. he dropped down onto all fours and broke into a sprint. he would never admit it, but running on all fours came so naturally, and felt so good...he looked forward to the opportunities where he could utilize it.

when he reached the entrance, there was nothing there, which meant she hadn't gotten there yet. he waited behind a crumbling wall, considering his options. he could hide somewhere he could see nova, but she couldn't see him. he could put a face to this mystery woman at last.  
 _  
'if you respect my privacy, i'll respect yours.'_

no, he couldn't go against the simple agreement they had. not unless she wanted him to see her. and if he saw her, with her permission, she'd probably want to see him, and he couldn't allow that. if she saw what he was, she'd would, at best, consider him a monster and never speak to him again. at worst, she'd tell the world about the rat man living in the sewers of new york city.

he heard humming before he heard footsteps. it was an upbeat tone- one he would expect from nova. he could hear her set down a bag on the floor. he could still hear her humming, so he assumed she was just standing there. was she hoping to meet him in person?

he heard one footstep- she'd turned around to leave- when the smell finally hit his nose. smoke, the kind that came from burning wood. the kind that came from

 _fire fire there was fire everywhere and then there it went his home was gone his wife was gone his daughter was gone everything was gone it was all over why didn't he die_ _ **why didn't he die with them?**_ **  
**  
the smell made him flinch, his tail lashing out as he gasped, a loud spluttering sound as he tried to fill his lungs with the air that had been knocked of them.

"splinter?" he heard nova say, as she took steps towards the wall behind which he hid.

 _"do not come any closer!"_ he shouted, paws clutching his head, trying to get himself together. he heard the footsteps stop.

"splinter, what's wrong?!" she asked, concern clear in her voice.

"you smell like smoke," he managed to choke out.

"well, yeah, i'm a firefighter. i haven't gotten a chance to shower yet," nova said. "are you allergic to smoke? or- or was there a fire…?"

splinter took a few calming breaths, regaining his composure. "n-not here...but yes, there was," he answered.

"i'm so sorry," nova whispered. there was a silence. "i hate to just leave, but i really do have to get back to the fire station. i'm going to call you later, okay? my shift ends at eleven- i'll call at eleven thirty probably."

"alright," he said numbly.

* * *

cassandra capella turned back to look at the wall one more time before she left the old subway station entrance. she wouldn't have come before showering if she knew the effect it would have on splinter. she hadn't even thought about checking the future to see how the drop off would go- she hadn't expected him to be there.

and then there was the tail. it was definitely a tail, and it kind of looked like a rat's tail. she almost laughed. what, like splinter was a giant rat who just really loved renaissance art? unlikely.

unlikely, but not impossible. if there was one thing cassandra had learned in her life, it was that nothing was truly impossible.

she wouldn't mention it, because she had a hunch splinter would cut all ties to her, and possibly move away. she'd grown close to him in the past few weeks, and it was great to have a friend that she could talk to about her powers. she didn't want to lose him.

she scratched the back of her head as she crossed the street. she would have to tell him that as they continued talking, the chances of them actually meeting would increase. it would eventually get to the point where she would be able to see their meeting, and, by extension, what he looked like.

she just hoped that wouldn't spook him enough to shut her out.

she sighed, and carried on.

* * *

author's note: okay, so mikey is way more emotionally intelligent than the canon sometimes gives him credit for, and that's what i was trying to get across here. he knows his dad has to eat, even if he doesn't want to, so he refuses to eat as long as splinter doesn't eat.

also, nova used to have severe depression, and it was thanks to her friends that she recovered from it. she's trying to be to splinter what her friends were to her. and now we know nova's real name! i was going to have this chapter include the fifth call and splinter reacting to what's in the bag, but it was such a perfect place to transition into cassandra's pov, i couldn't pass it up.

also- to the guest who left a review on chapter one- i'm afraid i've already written the entire fic, and i can't go through and change 20,000+ words just to capitialize in the proper places. using all lower caps is a stylistic choice- i really like the way it looks. i'm sorry if this annoys you!

ANYWAY. tell me what you thought!


	4. the sixth call

splinter could hear nova's retreat. he sat there for a long time, pushing the memories of the fire back. just when he'd started to feel better, something came up that dragged him back to that fire. he didn't know how long he sat there, pulling himself back together, but after some time, he sighed and got back on his feet.

he peered around the corner, spotting the bag nova had left. it was an old, plain duffel bag. he dragged the bag back behind the crumbling wall, and opened it. on top of everything else were four stuffed animals- there was a dog, a bear, a bunny, and a tiger. for a moment his grief was forgotten- nova had gotten his sons brand new stuffed animals. they'd never had anything new- he avoided stealing whenever he could help it, and as a result most of their toys were secondhand and found in the trash. he was quite sure that these four stuffed animals for his sons would make him feel better than anything else she could have put in the bag.

when he took them out of the bag to see what was underneath, a note tumbled out. the handwriting was messy and rushed, and reminded him vaguely of michelangelo's handwriting.

 _'splinter-_

 _i hope these stuffed animals are okay- i didn't want to get four totally different toys and then have the boys argue over who got what. i also got them "the miraculous journey of edward tulane," which was my favorite book growing up._

 _for you, i picked up a book on renaissance art: i really hope you haven't read it yet! i also packed some snacks for you. it's mostly fruit, but i did include a pack of oreos. next, there are two blankets- someone i work with is teaching me how to crochet, so the poorly made one is from me. the nice one is from them.'_

splinter thought about the tattooed firefighter from the newscast the day the apartment building next to nova's burned down- the thought of her crocheting made him chuckle.  
 _  
'finally, i included a cd of some of the music i've composed- you expressed interest before, and whenever my depression got really bad, i would listen to music for hours- or play music for hours._

 _please don't forget that there are people who care about you out there. and you know, if you ever need someone to talk to, i'm always here._

 _-nova.'_

splinter looked folded the note and put it to the side- there was indeed a small grocery bag with fruit in it (and oreos) but it was all apples. there were different types of apples, but there were no other types of fruit than apples. was...was this some kind of joke? she'd said she'd included fruit, which implied that there was more than one type of fruit, but she had only packed apples.

still, anything was better than algae and worms. he put the bag of apples (and oreos) to the side, revealing two books and a cd. the book that nova had gotten his boys featured a rabbit in a suit walking up to a house- he'd never seen the book before, but he had a hunch the boys would like it.

he had not read the book that nova had gotten for him on renaissance art. she must have read it before him, because she bookmarked the chapters about michelangelo, donatello, leonardo, and raphael. splinter was touched that she'd taken the time to read about his interests and the men that he'd named his sons after.

the cd was in a plain case, with a short tracklist- the songs were titled things like "wishing star," "profoundly cherished," and "requiem."

there was a post-it note taped to the cd case as well.

 _'don't worry about listening to this around your kids- they're all instrumental, so there's no cursing!'_

well, that was one less thing he'd have to worry about.

at the very bottom of the bag were the two blankets that she'd written about. one was blue and yellow, and he could tell it was hers. the stitches were uneven and messy, and when it was spread out, the blanket was anything but rectangular. one side was longer than the other.

it was absolutely perfect. made of thick, heavy yarn, the blanket would keep his sons warm when it started to snow. they were starting to outgrow the jackets and snowpants he'd scavenged last year.

the second blanket made the first look even worse than it did on its own. the blanket was a deep burgundy, and the stitches were tight and even. the blanket was huge- each side was at least two meters long. they were both perfect.

splinter looked at the gifts around him, and marveled at how such simple gifts could mean so much. when he was human, these things might not have meant so much to him. now they meant everything. new toys for his sons, blankets to keep them warm, food, real food, and books.

with a jolt, splinter realized just how long he'd been away from home. he'd really let time get away from him. he shoved the blankets, books, apples (and oreos), and cd in the bag, only slowing down to put the stuffed animals in the bag carefully. he slung the bag over his shoulder and sprinted home.

when he got back, splinter saw leonardo standing against one of the pillars, hands covering his eyes.

"eight, nine, ten," he counted slowly, before pulling his hands away excitedly. "ready or not, here i come!"

leonardo let out a gasp when he turned around to see his sensei in the common area. splinter put a finger to his snout, the universal symbol for quiet.

"you are playing hide and seek?" he asked, whispering. leonardo nodded. "i will look for them in the dojo, if you look in the kitchen."

leonardo beamed at his father and nodded, running off to the kitchen. splinter set the bag down and silently padded into the dojo. he could hear michelangelo's giggles coming from somewhere, which was quickly followed by raphael shushing his baby brother. splinter smiled.

"oh, i wonder where my sons have gone!" he said loudly. "i hope they are not hiding, or they will miss the lovely gifts that nova has gotten them."

not five seconds later, michelangelo jumped out of the tree that had grown in the dojo, followed by raphael. "we're right here, sensei!" michelangelo shouted, waving his arms excitedly.

"what did nova get us?" raphael asked, running up to his sensei.

"it is a surprise," splinter said, excited to give his sons the stuffed animals. "follow me."

leonardo and donatello were already sitting by the duffel bag, waiting for splinter to open it up.

they all knelt around the bag as splinter opened it. he stopped halfway, having thought of something.

"close your eyes and hold out your hands," he said.

he first placed the dog in donatello's hands, then he gave the teddy bear to leonardo. the tiger went to raphael, and the bunny was given to michelangelo.

"alright," he said, unable to keep himself from beaming. "you may open your eyes."

"it's a bunny!" his youngest shouted, hugging the stuffed rabbit.

"it's brand new too!" donatello noticed, feeling the fur on his new toy.

"mine's the coolest, though" raphael boasted.

leonardo was beaming, hugging the bear close.

 _'thank you, nova,_ ' splinter thought.

"we should thank nova!" leonardo said, echoing splinter's thoughts. his brothers nodded. "can we call her?"

splinter shook his head. "unfortunately, we can not. nova has to work very late tonight. you all will be asleep before she wakes up."

his stomach tied itself in knots as he remembered the way the smell of smoke clung to her, and he took a deep breath before continuing.

"i learned today," he started, "that nova is a firefighter. she works at the local fire station."

"does that mean she lied about living next to that building that burnt down?" donatello asked, suspicious.

splinter blinked. "i...suppose that is a very real possibility." he frowned. why would nova lie about something like that? she'd told him that she was a firefighter today with no hesitation.

"what else is in the bag, sensei?" leonardo asked, leaning forward to peer inside the bag.

this snapped him out of his thoughts. "well, she got you all a book- "the miraculous journey of edward tulane." she said it was her favorite book growing up. i was thinking i could read it to the four of you," he said, showing them the book. michelangelo pointed to the rabbit on the cover.

"it's a bunny! like mine!" he exclaimed.

"that is correct," splinter said, smiling.

"how come mikey gets the bunny?" raphael demanded. now that the bunny was special in some small way, raphael wanted it.

splinter raised an eyebrow. "i thought your tiger was the coolest, raphael. is your brother's bunny suddenly 'cooler' than your tiger?"

raphael froze, thinking it over. "no!" he spluttered. "my tiger's still way cooler 'n his bunny."

splinter chuckled, moving on to the next items in the bag. he first took out nova's blanket, then the one made by her coworker.

"nova and one of her friends made these for us," splinter explained, handing one blanket to michelangelo and raphael, and the other to leonardo and donatello. raphael seemed especially intrigued by the blanket.

"she made this?" raphael asked, inspecting the yellow and blue blanket.

"yes, i believe it was her first attempt," splinter said. was raphael commenting on the sloppy stitches?

"i wanna learn how to make blankets, too," he said, catching splinter off guard.

"oh," he said. he hadn't expected his hotheaded son to express interest in crocheting. "i'm afraid i don't know how to crochet, raphael."

"could nova teach me? over the phone, i mean," he asked, not deterred.

"i...suppose you could try," he said.

"cool," raphael said, looking at the blanket.

splinter blinked, still surprised by his son's interest in crocheting. raphael would have to have a lot patience to get good at it- perhaps it would help temper his son's, well, temper. splinter moved on to the bag of apples (and oreos) and set it down.

"nova also gave us apples," splinter started, before leonardo cut him off.

"and oreos!" he said.

* * *

cassandra was bone tired. there hadn't been any calls about fires since the one that morning, but she'd been so worried about splinter all day- she'd tried to practice crocheting, only to do a few rows and then rip them out. eventually the yarn had gotten into knots, and she'd had to cut a good part of it off.

she _could_ have called him when she got back to the station- it wasn't like they were doing much anyway. but she had other calls to make- as the herald, or whatever the fuck they were calling her now.

she hated that title. she hated it with every fiber of her being. being called the herald made her think of dulcie, and how she'd failed her.

however, it wasn't as if she could just come forward and say, "yes, i'm the clairvoyant that's been saving lives lately, please stop calling me the herald."

she'd called one woman to tell her to take another route home from work tonight, or at the very least, walk with someone she trusted. she'd called a father to tell him to take it slow on the way to his daughter's school. cassandra suggested to an elderly person to go for a check up sooner rather than later. she made eight phone calls that day. she could tell at least half of them weren't going to listen to her.

then, eleven o'clock came around and cassandra walked herself back home.

" 'm home," she said, kicking the door shut. "wait, that's right. i live alone."

the first thing she did was turn on some music. she couldn't stand silence, not for longer than five minutes, and she had always turned to music to fill it. she turned the radio onto a random station, where she was blasted with trashy pop music.

 _"don't tell your mother  
kiss one another  
die for each other"_

"y'need to fucking chill," cassandra mumbled, turning the volume way down, lest her neighbors bitch at her again for it.

she used to think that type of intense, do or die love was the right way. was the only way. she thought love was measured in how far you would go, and how much you would give up for the other. she thought love was about huge sacrifices, about suffering for the sake of someone else. and that suffering was beautiful, in some poetic way.

it's not.

at least, she doesn't think it is. cassandra loved dulcie, she knows that much.

' _and dulcie loved me ,'_ she reminded herself. dulcie loved cassandra enough to stay when the entire galaxy was trying to rip them apart. but there was no beauty in the lengths dulcie went to to be with cassandra.

"jesus christ, cassie," she told herself. "it's just a song. it's not that deep."

after making herself a mug of hot chocolate, cassandra decided to bite the bullet and call splinter.

the phone picked up on the third ring.

"howdy," cassandra said, trying to sound a little less tired than she felt.

"hello," splinter said, sounding cheerful. not just okay, but actually cheerful. good. "thank you so, so much."

"don't worry about it. did they like the stuffed animals?" cassandra asked, reminding herself to wait for him to respond.

"they loved them. thank you nova. michelangelo named his rabbit 'edward'- after that book you gave them," splinter told her. "i have started reading it to them. edward does not seem like the best protagonist."

cassandra snorted. "he's not. at least, not at first. he grows a lot, and changes a lot over the course of the book though."

"i see," splinter said. there was a comfortable silence.

"hey," cassandra said, getting an idea. she put her powers on lockdown for just now- the joke would be ruined if she could see the end result. "have you heard about updog?"

"no," splinter said, sounding puzzled. "what is updog?"

he paused, and then realized what he had said. "oh," he said, his voice monotone.

it was too late though- cassandra was already laughing hysterically. she took a few gasping breaths, trying to compose herself enough to respond.

 _"not much, what's up with you?!_ "

* * *

I CAN'T BELIEVE CASSANDRA "UPDOGGED" HIM  
also  
*pounds fists on table* crocheting raph crocheting raph cROCHETING RAPH  
i love the idea of raphael figuring out how to crochet and knit? i know knitting is 2k14 raph's thing, but i just love it so much, so i'm gonna have this raph learn how to do it too.  
"the miraculous journey of edward tulane" is a real book! i grew up reading it! it's an amazing book and i would definitely pick it up if you get a chance  
also, cassandra just really loves apples. like a lot. she...has reasons for giving him just apples (and oreos)  
finally, holy shit, that's probably the most i've revealed about cassandra and her past yet (at least in this fic.). who is this mysterious dulcie?  
please leave a comment, and as always you can contact me on my tumblr, lightningrooks


	5. the seventh call

there was a snicker on the other end, and splinter sighed.

"you are thinking about that again, aren't you?" he said, rubbing his temples. nova was never, ever going to let him live this down.

there was a snort which quickly dissolved into laughter. "yes," nova said between laughs. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry."

"but you are still laughing," he said, irritated.

"that's true," nova replied, and her laughter dies down, but doesn't stop for another thirty seconds. "i'm sorry, i just have never gotten that joke to work before."

"i am not sure that makes me feel any better," splinter grumbled.

"i'm sorry, i'll stop now," nova said, though he could hear in her voice she was still holding back laughter.

" _anyway_ ," splinter said, trying to change the subject, "are you doing anything special for the holidays?"

"uh, well, i don't really celebrate any holidays, but i am getting together with an old friend next week," nova said. "what about you?"

"i did celebrate christmas, however it was not a religious holiday. we did not have things like christmas trees, or elaborate family dinners...our version of christmas is a lot like your valentine's day," he explained.

"my…? oh!" nova said, seemingly coming to a realization. "that's pretty cool, actually! christmas in france was pretty religious - a lot of people go to midnight mass on christmas eve. well, christmas eve into christmas day. and then, they have this huge dinner at like, two in the morning!"

nova seemed so excited to talk about her experience with christmas in france, it made splinter smile.

"really?" he asked, prompting her to speak further.

"yeah! they call it the _réveillon_ and in some places they end the meal with thirteen different desserts," nova said. "i think it was in provence? yeah, that sounds right."

something about the way she told him about the _réveillon_ gave him pause. it was almost like she had only read about it, and not really experienced it.

"did you ever get a chance to attend a _réveillon_ yourself?" he asked.

nova let out a nervous laugh. "uh, not really. it's kind of a family thing, so i…" nova trailed off, leaving splinter to fill in the blank.

"i see," he said, sympathy in his voice.

"but, uh, i did get a chance to go to midnight mass. the music was beautiful," nova said, with a sort of reverence to it.

splinter smiled, and then laughed softly.

"what?" nova said, confused.

"of course you would remember the music the most," splinter said.

"hey," nova said, her toning feigning hurt, "i remember plenty about that night. if you'd been there, you'd understand why i remember the music the most."

"you misunderstand," splinter replied. "it is because you are you that you remember the music the most."

nova hummed thoughtfully on the other end. "you have a point there," she admitted. "i don't really believe in that sort of stuff- divine beings and messiahs- but i can appreciate the faith that other people have in them."

"is it because of your clairvoyance that you are not religious?" splinter asked, curious.

she made a noncommittal noise. "not really? i mean, my clairvoyance does destroy any notion of destiny or fate, but i just don't buy the idea that there's some grand being that created everything. i mean, there's just _so much stuff_ in this galaxy. in the entire universe, even! how can one being do all of that?"

splinter was silent for a while, digesting what she had just said. he could hear tapping on the other end, like nova was tapping a pen on something metal.

"uh, did i cross a line or something?" nova asked, nervous. sometimes she seemed to be so desperate to fill any silences in their conversations. it was perplexing and annoying all at once.

he furrowed his eyebrows. "no, why would you think that?"

"well," nova started, "a lot people get really touchy when i start talking about stuff like that."

"you do not have to worry about that with me. i was simply thinking over what you had said," he replied.

"oh," nova replied, relief clear in her voice. "well, that's good."

"you said there was no such thing as destiny?" he asked finally. "how can you know?"

nova laughed. "because i can see all the choices. and there is _always_ a choice."

"always?" splinter repeated. "i find that hard to believe- certainly there are times when there are no options. could it be that because you can see all the choices that you are not affected by fate?"

"nope," nova replied. "i'm not the only being with the ability to see the future- there are others who have the same limitations i do, and there are those who can see the future of every living being. how much each one of us can see varies, but the fact remains- we can all see the choices."

"there are beings that can see the future of every living being?" he asked, torn between disbelief and wonder.

"yeah," nova breathed out. "it's pretty amazing. but... a lot of them get so caught up in their visions, in the lives of beings millions of miles away that they just...waste away, looking ahead."

"is that common, for those that are clairvoyant?" splinter asked, concerned. nova didn't seem to be one of those clairvoyants- if anything, she seemed to be completely wrapped up in the moment. if he didn't know she was clairvoyant, he would never have guessed it.

"yeah, unfortunately. a lot of gifted clairvoyants get so caught up in what _will be_ and not _what is_. it took me a long time to find a balance of the two," nova said, and for the first time splinter realized that her clairvoyance was something she must have trained herself to be able utilize.

"have you always been able to see the future?" he asked, curious. this was the first time that she'd opened up about her powers since her very first explanation.

"yeah, but only in life or death situations, or when i was asleep," nova said casually.

"how many life or death situations did you get into as a child?" splinter said jokingly. there was a silence on the other end that indicated that the joke was not well received.

"i told you i knew how hard it was to be homeless in the winter, right?" nova asked, quietly.

"you did," splinter replied, his voice equally soft. he may not have been clairvoyant, but he had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going.

"i was on my own until i was six years old, and i was a runaway. i mean, i was an orphan, but i was also a runaway," nova said. "it was the worst winter i'd ever seen, and i had nowhere to go. i was freezing to death in the snow, in some alley, and i didn't have the energy to care. i was so, so cold. i remember there was a...wild dog, just as cold and just as starved as i was. i remember seeing visions of it attacking me, ripping out my throat, and all i could do was pray for it to be quick."

nova's voice had gone hollow, and took on an unnaturally steady rhythm. splinter felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up, and a cold dread wash over him. though he understood that nova's visions had not come to pass, obviously, he found himself frightened for the young nova.

"then what?" he whispered, voice hoarse from fear.

"someone saved me. i remember a woman, rushing in between me and the dog and scaring it off with a baseball bat. she wrapped me up in her jacket and carried me inside her house," nova said, her voice warming up, full of nostalgic memory. "she and her wife wrapped me in all the blankets they owned, and sat me down by their big fireplace. they made me hot chocolate, and asked me who i was, where my parents were, and what their phone numbers were. when i didn't answer, they simply sat down next to me and comforted me."

nova's voice had taken on a completely different quality from the hollow sound earlier. it was warm and rich, and made him feel at home. his body relaxed from the tension that had been built up by the dark opening of the story.

"that woman and her wife would become my mothers," nova finished. he could practically hear the smile on her face, and it made him smile in return. in his many talks with nova, he had never heard such variety in her voice; she must be an excellent storyteller, he concluded.

"anyway!" nova said, her voice back to it's normal tone and rhythm- the magic broken. "since we're on the subject of my powers, there's something serious i need to talk to you about."

"oh?" he said, curious. "what's that?"

nova hesitated. "as we talk more and more, and get closer and closer...the chances of us meeting increase, bit by bit."

"what do you mean?" splinter asked, his voice harsher than he intended. was she looking for him? did she want to meet him? she'd promised to respect his privacy!

"i'm not saying i'm looking for you, but the possibility of us meeting will start to go up- meaning i might have visions about meeting you," nova explained. before splinter could speak, she continued. "i won't go looking for that meeting, but sometimes i just can't help what i see. i... thought i should tell you, in case you wanted to stop...talking to me."

"if i stopped talking to you, you would not be able to see us? ever?" splinter's voice was devoid of any emotion.

"yes," nova choked out. her voice was full of heartbreak- why? was she really that attached to him? he knew he was fond of her, and valued their friendship, but wasn't that just because he had no one else besides his sons?

the thought of never speaking to the clairvoyant again made his chest ache. but his sons came first. he'd begun this friendship with that in mind- if nova became a danger to his sons, he would cut ties to her. he knew that. he knew this might happen.

but was nova really a danger to his family?

"you can trust me," she whispered. "i don't know what you have to hide, but you can trust me with whatever it is. please believe me."

splinter closed his eyes, sighing. talk was cheap. he'd been betrayed by those he'd trusted before, and it had cost him his wife and daughter- would trusting nova cost him his sons?

then there was the other side of it- she was the only human that knew about them at all, and she hadn't told anyone about the homeless family living in the abandoned station. nova had also told him about the chance that she might see him in her visions, and had given him an out- though the thought of no longer speaking with him clearly upset her, she wanted him to be comfortable.

"i... i will trust you," splinter said finally. he could hear nova let out what sounded like a happy sob, and he quickly added, his voice like steel, "but if you ever do anything to hurt or endanger my sons, there is not a place on this earth where i will not find you."

the threat sobered nova up, and she replied, "i understand."

"good," splinter said. then, with a more gentle voice, he said, "when you do see what i look like… do not shut me out. please."

a new fear had crept in- what if she saw him, and was so disgusted with him that _she_ chose to never speak to him again? she...she seemed like she would not be afraid of him. not after learning so much about him.

 _"of course,"_ nova said, as if it was obvious. there was a silence. "sometimes i wonder how our conversations get so off topic- we started this conversation talking about the holidays."

"well, technically we started this conversation talking about that updog jo-" splinter stopped himself too late, and nova started laughing all over again. he sighed.

* * *

on christmas morning, the boys ran into splinter's room, waking him up far earlier than usual. mikey was the first to wake up, and immediately woke up all his brothers. it was this noise that woke him up- mikey running from bedroom to bedroom, shouting "it's christmas!"

splinter smiled. he was particularly proud of the gifts he had managed to get this year.

"sensei, wake up! santa visited us last night!" michelangelo said, opening the door to his father's room. splinter opened one eye, pretending to wake up. michelangelo was holding his stuffed bunny's paw- he never let "edward" out of his sight.

"is that so?" he asked, smiling at his youngest son. leonardo, raphael, and donatello stood in the doorway behind their brother, rubbing the sleepiness from their eyes. "let us see what he has brought you."

the boys cheered, running to the tree that had grown in the dojo. they had decorated it as best they could- donatello had found and repaired a string of lights, which splinter had woven into the branches of the tree. the boys made the paper ornaments that hung from it's branches, and had made the paper chain that served as a type of garland.

it was a strange looking christmas tree, but a nice one nonetheless.

"this one's for donnie!" mikey said, running over to inspect the four presents under the tree, dragging edward the stuff rabbit behind him. none of them were particularly well wrapped, and they were all wrapped in the comics section of the newspaper, but the boys didn't seem to mind.

splinter sat down as mikey handed his brother his present. donnie opened up his gift carefully, opening one end of the wrapping and sliding out what was inside. it was an old, battered textbook on engineering- he'd found it in the dumpster of a college bookstore. for a moment, splinter was nervous. had he picked out a book too challenging for his genius son? was it too easy?

"this is so cool!" donatello said, flipping through the pages. "it's an introductory engineering textbook!"

splinter quietly let out a sigh of relief. he had gotten the right book after all.

"me next!" mikey said, looking for his present and promptly ripping the wrapping to shreds. "it's...clothes…but they're all too small for me," he said, confused and disappointed.

"but they are not too small for edward, are they?" splinter asked, pointing to the rabbit laying next to michelangelo.

understanding lit up in mikey's eyes as he grabbed his bunny, and then one of the toddler sized shirts. he pulled it over edward's head and put his arms in the sleeves. he held up the half dressed rabbit and beamed.

"now he looks just like the edward in the book!" mikey exclaimed happily. splinter nodded. they were just toddler clothes- far from the silk suits that the edward in the book had had, but mikey seemed to love them just the same.

"raphael, open yours next," splinter said, handing his son a rather lumpy looking package.

raph tore into the package, and found a large ball of red yarn and a plastic crochet hook. he looked at the hook, then the yarn, then at the hook again.

"you had mentioned you wanted to learn to make blankets like nova," splinter explained. "these are the tools you will need to use to do so."

" _ooooh_ ," raphael said, a new appreciation for the gift clear in his eyes. "can i call nova later, to see if she can teach me?"

splinter shook his head. "no, nova went away to visit an old friend of hers. she said she would be back the twenty-ninth."

as leo opened his package - a toy space laser, like the ones from that space heroes show he was always watching- raphael groaned. "i gotta wait four whole days before i can actually use my gift? where's nova going, anyway?"

* * *

cassandra opened the door to the secluded greenhouse/cabin hybrid, shaking off the snow. she placed her guitar down gently, and dropped her other bags down with a thump.

"paola? are you here?" cassandra called out, not wanting her friend to be caught off guard by her presence.

"of course i'm here. where else would i go?" asked a familiar voice. there was a staticky quality to it, as if paola was talking to cassandra through a set of speakers.

which, to be fair, she was.

a small figure walked out of the hallway leading to the greenhouse- dressed in oversized overalls, a flannel shirt, and a large straw hat that covered much of her face, paola was only four feet tall. she seemed even smaller in comparison to cassandra, who stood at a solid six feet, five inches tall.

her steps were heavy as she approached cassandra.

"could you ever just say like, 'wow, cassandra, it's so great to see you?' is that really that difficult?" cassandra asked, feigning hurt.

"oh, come here you big baby. you know i missed you," paola said, reaching up and waiting for cassandra to crouch before hugging the woman.

the hug knocked off paola's straw hat, revealing a faded white metal head and two emerald lenses for eyes. red flowers and green leaves were painted all over the android's body, connected by ribbon like vines.

as they broke away from the embrace, paola wrapped five floating fingers from her right hand around cassandra's left hand- holding her hand as best she could.

"now, tell me all about this new friend you've made," paola said, leading cassandra deeper into the cabin. "you said his name was splinter, i believe?"

* * *

author's note: we get a LOT of info on cassandra in this chapter, and many more questions raised about her. this is where things start to move a bit faster- we'll have splinter and cassandra meet face to face in just two more chapters! paola is one of my favorite of my ocs, and i can't wait for you too see more of her later on!  
tell me what you thought! as always you can contact me on tumblr lightningrooks!


	6. the eighth, ninth, and tenth calls

"how's it looking?" cassandra asked, looking down at her own project. it was a mitten- the other one was lying around the fire station somewhere. she'd had such a hard time with the mittens- she couldn't remember how many stitches she'd done, or how many stitches she had left to do. she was extremely frustrated.

"it looks terrible," raph mumbled on the other end. cassandra noted how tired he sounded- a far cry from how he sounded yesterday when she got back from bear pond...all of his attitude, his fire, seemed to be drained from him.

"you'll get there," cassandra said encouragingly. "are you feeling alright, bud?"

"yeah...m'just tired and cold," raph said. that got cassandra's attention real quick.

"cold?" she repeated, sitting up. "do you have any sort of heating in the-"

she paused, feeling johnny's eyes on her. the idea that women were the gossiping ones was laughable, cassandra had concluded after a few months of working with mostly male coworkers.

"-house?" cassandra finished, trying to make it sound smooth.

"yeah," raph said, but before cassandra could let out a sigh of relief, he continued. "but the power's been on the fritz lately. donnie and splinter are trying to fix it...but this is the third time today."

 _fuck_.

she wasn't even sure how they were getting power down there, and she didn't ask. but if this was the third time today...she spaced out, mind wandering along paths of light to different futures, and all she saw was the bitter cold.

 _double fuck._

"nova?" raph asked, snapping cassandra out of her trance.

"sorry, kiddo. kinda spaced out there for a minute. what were you saying?" cassandra asked, embarrassed.

"nothing, you just got all quiet for a minute," raph said.

"oh, okay," she replied. cassandra chewed on the pad of her thumb, thinking over her options. she didn't have a big apartment, but it did have heating, which was more than she could say for where the boys lived. it'd be cramped, but they'd be safe. "can you put your dad on the line? i want to talk to him for a second."

"yeah, okay," raph said.

there was a silence, and then she could faintly hear footsteps.

"nova?" splinter said, sounding like he was panicked, but trying to hide it. he wasn't doing too well. "what is it?"

"hey, so, raph told me about your heating problem, and i wanted to let you know that if you need somewhere to stay when it gets too cold, you can stay in my apartment," cassandra said.

splinter let out a bitter laugh. "i wish we could, but that's simply impossible."

"why?" cassandra asked, standing up and walking to the ladies locker room. it was cramped, considering there were only two female firefighters, but it was private, and johnny seemed far too invested in her conversation.

"because no one can see us," splinter said, growing irritated. " ever . that's why we've never meet, remember?"

"i know that," cassandra said, getting irritated herself. "but it's not going to get any warmer, and if your power is still on the fritz, you're going to need somewhere to go."

"you do not _understand-_ "

"no, i _do_ ! i know you're not human," cassandra blurted out, immediately regretting it.

there was a sharp inhale on the other end. "so you've seen me in your visions," he said, his voice going monotone, the way it always did when he was scared.

scared of her.

"no," she said. "but when i dropped off that care package about two weeks ago- when you panicked, or had that flashback, or whatever ...your tail lashed out."

splinter swore in japanese on the other end. at least, she assumed it was a swear- it was said like a swear.

"and you have just...been sitting on this information for the past two weeks?" he asked, voice unreadable.

"it didn't really matter until now," cassandra explained. and it really didn't matter now either. it didn't matter what he was- he was her friend, first and foremost. "and it still doesn't matter."

"it...doesn't matter?" he asked, quiet and perplexed.

"no, it doesn't," cassandra reaffirmed.

"you can't say that when-"

"yes, i can, because whatever you look like, i promise you, it won't matter," cassandra stressed.

splinter was silent for a while. finally, he asked, "you...you're certain it doesn't matter? and you won't tell anyone we're- i'm - not human?"

cassandra would let it slide that he had basically confirmed that his sons weren't human either- she had to reveal the things she knew or could infer one at a time. she knew he was panicking as it was.

"i won't tell anyone. i promise," cassandra said.

"why...why are you keeping all these secrets? why are you protecting me- protecting us?" splinter asked, sounding...tired more than anything.

she was silent for a moment. she was really gambling here- she hadn't even told him about her pyrokinesis, let alone where she was really from. whether or not he would believe her was another story altogether- it would most likely be one of those things he'd have to see in person.

"you don't think that i, the augur- the clairvoyant, would understand keeping secrets? that i wouldn't understand not being-" cassandra started, before blaring sirens went off.

"fuck, i've gotta go," cassandra said, standing up. "just think about it, okay?"

"i will think about it," he resigned before cassandra hung up.

* * *

cassandra was on her hands and knees, sticking to the wall of the burning apartment building. there was fire everywhere, but that didn't concern her all that much. she could gather up all this fire with a wave of her hand and put it out with little more than a thought, but she couldn't. not here, with everyone outside. she couldn't just magically put out the fire and stroll on out- humans didn't take kindly to miracles like that. they needed to know everything about the world around them- as a capellan, she could respect that.

she did need to get out of here, though. fire wouldn't hurt her, but the heat was certainly taking its toll. the excess heat that her body always gave off, the heat that was trapped in her suit, and the heat of the fire all combined to make cassandra feel lightheaded. she continued her crawl until she felt something soft. something human.

it was a child that had fallen unconscious. they didn't seem to be injured, but cassandra couldn't focus enough to peer into the future to see if they had any injuries she couldn't see. she looped her arms under the child's armpits and leaned up onto her knees,moving backwards towards the staircase.

she breathed in deeply, parting the flames that blocked their escape and continuing her crawl. a vision came to her, unbidden, and she could see the staircase collapse in a matter of minutes.

 _'you know what?'_ she thought, standing up and picking up the child bridal style. ' _fuck it.'  
_  
adrenaline raced through her veins, and another type of vision kicked in- split vision. the world took on a blue hue, showing cassandra the most probable flow of time. after years and years of use, the double vision wasn't disorienting- instead she found the split vision comforting. cassandra moved out of the way of collapsing supports and danced around weakened floorboards.

at last, cassandra made it to the staircase, sprinting down it as fire ate away more and more of the staircase. she was hit with a dizzy spell as she reached the bottom step.

 _( keep it together keep it together keep it together )_

she stumbled out the door, dropping the child off with one of the emts and stumbling to the curb before her legs gave out under her. she dropped to her knees, peeling off her mask, coat, and hat. her body felt like it was on fire, sweat soaking her shirt and her hair. the bitter cold air that had only warmed slightly despite the fire that was behind cassandra did little to cool her down.

when she was overheating like this, there was only one real solution for her. she checked to make sure everyone else was preoccupied with the fire- now that everyone was out, they were focused solely on putting it out. she kept her head down and exhaled through her mouth, breathing out flickers of flame that licked her face but did not harm her. it was from the light of this small fire that she saw two beautiful brown eyes staring up at her in wonder from the storm drain.

"splinter?" she whispered, flames dancing around the word as she spoke.

the eyes lit up, and before either of them could say anymore, johnny came walking up to her. she shut her mouth quickly, cutting off the flames.

"cece, are you okay?" he asked, crouching down next to her. she turned to head to looked at him and nodded.

"yeah, just kinda overheating," she said. johnny tried to put his hand on her back in comfort, only to be nearly burned by the heat of her skin.

"jesus christ, cece! you weren't kidding," he exclaimed, pulling his hand away quickly. "let's have an emt check you out, okay?"

"just a-" cassandra started, looking back down at the storm drain, only to see that the brown eyes had disappeared. she sighed. "yeah, okay." she said, standing up shakily.

* * *

"you can breathe fire," he said, still in shock, "and your name is cece."

cassandra choked on the water she was drinking. "no, no, no," she sputtered through coughs. "my name is cassandra- please don't call me cece. ever."

"o-oh, alright," splinter said. "but you- you can _breathe fire_!"

"i can," she said awkwardly.

"w... how ?" he asked, confused.

"uh...i just can?" cassandra said. this was much harder to explain than her clairvoyance. humans sometimes did have psychic abilities. breathing fire was not one of them, however.

"have you been able to breathe fire your whole life?" he asked, probably remembering how she'd told him of her clairvoyance.

"mm, not really. the pyrokinesis...arose when i was twelve, but i always had the potential for it. it was like something waking up inside me," cassandra said.

"pyrokinesis?" splinter repeated.

"i can create and control fire," cassandra explained.

"i see. how did it...awaken?" he asked.

cassandra knew she couldn't tell him- if she started talking about it, all those memories would rush to surface, and she'd rather not have a breakdown in a grocery store parking lot.

"i really can't talk about that- it...it was _bad_ ," she said, her voice tight.

"i didn't mean to bring up unpleasant-"

"it's fine, just...next question, please," she said, cutting him off. she didn't mean to be short with him, but she needed a distraction.

"a-alright. why were you breathing fire?" he asked.

" 'cause i was overheating. my body temperature is already higher than normal naturally, and then that heat gets trapped in the suit, and then you add the heat of the fire -it got too much," she said. "i can't cool off the same way a human can, so i breathe it all out in the form of fire."

splinter was silent for a moment, and then repeated, "'the way a human can?'"

"fuck," she said, realizing her slip up.

"so you are not human either," splinter said, almost sounding...scared. it wasn't the monotone voice he took on when he was afraid of what she knew or could see, but it was still fear nonetheless.

"no, i'm not human," she admitted.

"w-what are you, then?" splinter asked.

"what do you think i am?" she replied, genuinely curious. there'd been only one other incident where she'd let it slip or in some way revealed she wasn't human- they'd thought she was an angel.

"are you...are you a demon?" splinter whispered.

cassandra was silent for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "a demon? you think i'm a demon? oh my god, that's hilarious."

on some level, cassandra was hurt. her friend thought she was a demon? cassandra had a basic understanding of what earthlings thought of demons- whether he was human or not, her friend was afraid of her. she knew that he wouldn't completely trust her until she saw him in person- he seemed to be one of those "talk is cheap" kind of people- but it was hard to prove that she was trustworthy when he refused to meet her face to face. but to be afraid of her? it hurt.

splinter spluttered on the other end. "w-well you can not exactly blame me for thinking that! my first impression of you was you breathing fire, with wild eyes and tattooed arms!" he protested.

"that's fair i suppo- wait. what's wrong with my tattoos?" cassandra asked, voice accusatory.

"uh…" splinter said, at a loss for words. he must have known he'd messed up, because when he found the words to speak he said, "nothing, i just...they looked….strange by the light of the fire."

it was a poor lie and they both knew it. "mmhm," cassandra said, practically oozing passive aggressiveness. "sure."

"nova- cassandra, i didn't mean to insult you, i just…" splinter trailed off, but cassandra could see what he would have said.

"you were frightened. i get it," cassandra said. she saw josie's car pull and sighed. "look, i've gotta go. we can talk about this tomorrow."

"cassandra, i-"

"i'm not mad," she said tightly. "i'm kinda hurt, but not mad. give me some time to cool off."

with that she hung up. she knew it wasn't a kind thing to do, but she really didn't care. she'd tried so hard to keep her powers either under wraps, or reveal them in a way that won't make people scared of her. granted, she'd had very little control over how splinter found out about her pyrokinesis, but still...it hurt, how he'd been afraid of her.

she could be dangerous when she wanted to be, that was for sure. but not just because she had fire powers. hell, she was extremely dangerous even without the fire powers. she just...she wasn't dangerous to splinter. she sighed as she got out of her car.

"thanks for meeting me here," she said, a very convincing grin on her face as she meet up with josie and sam outside the grocery store.

"no problem, cece. it's about time you stopped being such a picky eater," sam said as they went inside. cassandra shook her head as she got a cart.

"no, this isn't for me- this is in case my friend and his kids need to stay at my apartment. i just don't know what kind of foods…" cassandra trailed off.

"normal people eat?" josie filled in for her. cassandra nodded. "we'll help you out. still, maybe you'll end up eating more than noodles and apples by the end of their stay."

"unlikely," cassandra replied, her grin just a little more genuine now. as the three firefighters chatted and joked, thoughts of splinter were forgotten, despite the fact that she was buying the food for him and his kids.

halfway through the bread section, josie brought it all back up again. "so, is this friend the mystery man you've been talking to nonstop for the past month?"

cassandra sighed, looking from the rye bread in one hand to the country potato bread in her other. she put the rye back and tossed the country potato bread in the cart.

"yeah, it's him," she said. josie and sam looked at each other, picking up on the downhearted tone in her voice.

"trouble in paradise, cece?" sam asked, to which josie elbowed him. he hissed in pain, "what?"

"they're not together, knucklehead!" she hissed in reply.

"how am i supposed to know that when she doesn't tell us anything about him?!"

"i'm right here guys. i can hear every word you're saying," cassandra said, driving the cart away from her arguing coworkers. "and i've told you, he's a very shy person. i've never even met him myself."

josie and sam stopped, staring at cassandra. "are you sure it's a good idea to open your apartment to him if you've never met him?" sam asked, concerned.

cassandra turned, looking back at them and nodding. "yeah, i am. it's not just him either, it's his kids too. and you both know i can take care of myself."

"that's true," josie snorted, the bar incident replaying in her head. "but seriously, is something going on between you two? i mean, are you two fighting?"

"no, we're not fighting…" cassandra said, trying to figure out how to explain the situation. "i think he might be a bit intimidated by me."

"what, because you're a smart, strong, independent woman who could kick his ass into next week?" josie said, already going on the offensive. "honey, if he's intimidated by you, drop him."

"josie, relax. i'm pretty sure it's for none of those reasons. it's just…" cassandra trailed off.

"complicated?" sam finished for her. cassandra nodded, to which both josie and sam sighed.

"one of these days, you're gonna tell us everything," josie said, arms crossed.

"maybe," cassandra said with a weak smile. considering how well it was going with telling splinter everything...she doubted she'd tell her coworkers about anything.

the rest of the trip went by fast. they had gotten sliced turkey, cheese, and at least three different kinds of condiments to make sandwiches with. there were two frozen pizzas and a platter of vegetables, and to drink they had decided that kids would like capri sun. for snacks they had gotten applesauce and little fruit cups. sam insisted that they get macaroni and cheese as well, because "every kid likes mac 'n cheese."

cassandra already had cereal and milk at home, and she hoped that that would be good enough for breakfast for splinter and his kids. and she had more than enough apples.

"i think we've got enough. and if i need more, i can go out shopping again- i just wanted to make sure i had more than frozen spaghetti dinners and cereal in the house if they need to stay with me," she said, driving the cart towards checkout. "thank you guys, i'd have been lost without you."

"not a problem, cece," josie said, clapping cassandra on the back. "we've always got your back."

* * *

cassandra shut the door behind her with her foot, her hands full of grocery bags. she dumped the bags on her kitchen counter and began to unpack them.

not for the first time since coming to earth, cassandra felt extremely out of place. she couldn't be who she truly was- she couldn't use her powers freely, and she couldn't talk about her visions except anonymously. she didn't get all of earth's customs, which varied greatly from place to place, and she didn't like most of the food on earth.

the one earthling who was the closest to knowing the full truth was afraid of her.

again, cassandra felt the desire to leave earth, and go back to...what? new capella? no, that place just didn't feel like home anymore. she and paola could go back to just traveling the stars- she knew that was what paola wanted, and a part of cassandra wanted that too.

she looked at the bouquet of sunflowers that she'd brought back with her from paola's greenhouse, and sighed. her enduring vision had led her here, though, and thea had told her that the place her enduring vision led her to would be where she would find happiness. not that she couldn't find happiness other places, but...earth was where she could be happiest, she supposed.

she'd give earth another year. maybe she'd find happiness in that time.

and then, she looked down at her left arm, at the words written there and smiled. the words that her mother had so often said- " _happiness is not something you find. it is something you build ."_ she shook her head at herself. here she was looking for something that couldn't be found. it was time to stop looking and start building from the ground up.

* * *

 _lights flickered as cassandra sprinted through abandoned subway tunnels, pausing at every junction to figure out the way. she could hear sobs faintly in the distance and followed that sound. as she navigated the tunnels the voice became clearer and she recognized it as splinter's._

 _he was half shouting, half sobbing in japanese, and she could make out his voice saying raphael, michelangelo, donatello, and leonardo over and over._

 _she turned into an abandoned subway station that showed signs of being anything but abandoned. there was a tv and toys scattered all over the place, but cassandra didn't stop to look around. guided by her visions, she entered into what appeared to be a training room, and the ran to the door at the back of that, where she could hear him clearly._

 _when she pulled back the door, she was met with a sobbing, gigantic rat curled around four child sized turtles that were motionless. the rat looked up at her, eyes full of despair._

 _"it's too late," it whispered with splinter's voice. "they won't wake up they're so cold they're gone **it's too late** -!"_

cassandra shot up in her bed, heart beating like a jackhammer in her chest. she sucked in air greedily, trying to put herself back together enough so that she'd be able to peer into the future.

she traveled again along the light lines to different futures- it was easier this time because she knew what future she wanted to see. she sighed as she found out what she wanted to know- she had five hours before the vision she saw took place.

she jumped out of bed and pulled off her tank top, as she walked swiftly to her dresser. she pulled on a sports bra and put her tank top back on as she pulled her comforter off her bed. she dropped it in a pile in the middle of the hallway, adding the blanket she had on her couch to the pile along with two extra sweatshirts. she grabbed her phone as she pulled on a thin jacket, and hit splinter's name under contacts (which had several artist's palette emojis next to it.)

the phone rang six times.

"nov- cassandra?" he said, sounding outright panicked and scared. whether it was of her or something else, she couldn't be sure. she didn't care right now.

"listen, i've had a vision, i know what you look like, i don't care, and i'm coming to bring you back to my apartment," cassandra said, her voice controlled and even despite her panic.

"w-what?" he said, struggling to keep up. cassandra wedged her phone between her head and her shoulder as she picked up the sweatshirts and walked out of her apartment. she left the blankets in a heap.

"it's too cold," she said, taking the stairs two at a time. "and your boys are in danger."

"in danger?" he said weakly.

"of freezing to death. look," she said, walking out the door and unlocking her car. "you've got no reason to be afraid of me. i need you to trust-"

 _"hurry,"_ splinter interrupted, voice cracking. it threw cassandra off- she'd been mentally writing a long speech, and just like that he rendered it null and void.

"i'm already on my way," she said, getting into the driver's seat. "i've got to go, i'm driving. give me at least ten minutes."

"hurry," he repeated, and hung up.

* * *

author's note: i have no idea what life in nyc is like, having lived in the suburbs my whole life, and i have no idea what being a firefighter is like. if anything is really, glaringly wrong, please let me know.  
if you're wondering what is going on in splinter's head- don't worry, that's coming. these events are so important that chapter seven is going to be basically chapter six, but from splinter's pov.


	7. the 8th, 9th, and 10th calls revisited

"dad?" raphael said as splinter tried- unsuccessfully- to get the power working again. he huffed at the mess of wires and turned to him.

"what is it, raphael? isn't nova supposed to be teaching you how to crochet?" he asked. that had been going better than he'd expected- it was the second day, and he hadn't gotten frustrated to the point of giving up.

"she is, she just wants to talk to you." normally he'd be excited to talk to nova, but right now he had so much to do...he sighed. he could spare his friend a few minutes. he turned to donatello, who sat on a stool next to him.

"do not touch anything while i'm on the phone, donatello," he said sternly. he'd accepted that his son had a way with machines that he could never hope to have, but he refused to allow him to, for example, fix the power by himself. it was simply too dangerous for a child.

part of him wondered if he should just let donatello take over repairs- with supervision of course. trying to repair the power with donnie's instructions was too slow and they were both quickly running out of patience. while donnie was simply frustrated by his father's lack of understanding, there was an underlying panic fueling splinter's behavior.

he padded over to the phone and picked up the receiver from where it hung freely. the floor was freezing underneath his bare feet, and he felt anxiety swell in his chest.

"nova?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even. "what is it?"

"hey, so, raph told me about your heating problem, and i wanted to let you know that if you need somewhere to stay when it gets too cold, you can stay in my apartment," nova said rather nonchalantly. he sighed.

"i wish we could, but that's simply impossible," he said. he wished they could just go stay with nova- it'd make everyone's lives easier, but...she still didn't know, and he still wanted to keep it that way, at least for a little longer. he'd miss these talks once she found out and stopped talking to him.

"why?" nova asked, curious and naive despite _knowing_ the reason.

"because no one can see us," he replied, growing irritated. why was she making this more difficult than it needed to be? " _ever_. that's why we've never met, remember?"

"i know that," nova said, sounding irritated herself. "but it's not going to get any warmer, and if your power is still on the fritz, you're going to need somewhere to go."

"you do not _understand-_ " he protested before nova cut him off.

"no, i _do_! i know you're not human," nova nearly shouted.

he felt his heart stop. _she knew.  
_  
he inhaled sharply. he tried to keep the fear out of his voice as he said, "so you've seen me in your visions."

he didn't stop to think about how she had offered to let his family stay with her despite most likely knowing what he looked like.

"no," nova said, and splinter almost had time to let out a sigh of relief before she continued, "but when i dropped off that care package about two weeks ago- when you panicked, or had that flashback, or whatever ...your tail lashed out."

splinter swore. he remembered that day, and how he'd been brought back to the night of the fire with the mere smell of smoke that clung to nova. he remembered how he'd panicked- and though he didn't remember it, it was a very real possibility that his tail had lashed out.

then he realized that they'd talked to each other several times since that day, and she hadn't said a word about it.

"and you have just...been sitting on this information for the past two weeks?" he asked, filled with discomfort.

"it didn't really matter until now," nova said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "and it still doesn't now."

"it...doesn't matter?" he repeated. surely she was joking, or lying, or she didn't realize to the extent of which he was mutated- she didn't know how inhuman he was.

"no, it doesn't," nova reaffirmed.

"you can't say that when-" he began to protest when again, nova cut him off.

"yes, i can, because whatever you look like, i promise you, it won't matter."

"you...you're certain it doesn't matter? and you won't tell anyone we're- _i'm_ \- not human?" he prayed she wouldn't notice his slip up- she didn't know his sons not human as well, and for now, he'd like to keep it that way. he knew he was running out of time, and that very soon, nova would figure out their secret. but he didn't know if he was ready for that.

"i won't tell anyone. i promise."

"why...why are you keeping all these secrets? why are you protecting me- protecting us?" he was tired of keeping secrets, tired of feeling like he had to walk on eggshells around her- a part of him just wanted to tell her and let the cards fall where they may. like ripping off a band-aid, he wanted to get it over with. whether that meant he'd finally be able to trust her fully or they would cut ties...he was tired of playing games.

"you don't think that i, the augur- the clairvoyant, would understand keeping secrets? that i wouldn't understand not being-" nova said, before loud sirens interrupted her on her end. he jumped at the noise, and felt a weight sink in his stomach.

"fuck, i've gotta go," she said, sounding mildly inconvenienced rather than afraid. "just think about it, okay?"

"i will think about it," he sighed. "be care-"

nova hung up before he got a chance to finish his sentence. he hung up the phone, worried about his friend- he knew it was her job, but the idea of nova running into a fire made his stomach churn.

suddenly, all the lights in the lair flickered to life, and their old heating unit spluttered on. he narrowed his eyes, marching back to where donnie had pushed the stool so he could fix the power.

"donatello! what did i tell you?!" he said sternly. the little turtle didn't even look guilty as he turned around to face his father, pliers still in his hands.

"but i got it to work!" he protested. splinter held out his hand, his arms partially crossed, and donnie placed the pliers in it, looking at the ground.

"someone's in trouble," raphael said in a sing-song voice as he sat next to the stool and clumsily practiced crocheting.

both donnie and splinter glared at raphael, and he put his hands up and said, "what?"

splinter shook his head and turned his attention back to donatello. "i do not doubt your ability, my son, but i am merely trying to keep you from getting hurt. you are still a child, and you should not be tinkering with electrical things like this."

donnie sighed and hopped off the stool. splinter sighed and stopped him with his hand.

"i am proud of you for being able to fix this, donatello," splinter said, softening. "i just don't want you to get hurt."

donnie smiled at his father's praise, and nodded.

raphael seemed to remember something, and abruptly stood up. "hey, is nova still on the phone?" he asked, gathering up all his yarn. splinter shook his head.

"no, i'm afraid she was called away," he said, which prompted donnie to get excited.

"i almost forgot!" he said, running into what they all affectionately called "donnie's lab." raphael and splinter looked at each other and shrugged before following him.

mikey and leo were in the lab as well- it wasn't strictly donnie's space, so the other boys hung out in here frequently. they were sitting next to each other, each wrapped up in blankets. mikey was reading comic books with his toy rabbit, and leonardo was lying on his stomach drawing with crayons.

"i fixed up an old radio, and now we can listen to the police scanner- we can listen to see where nova's going and if she's okay!" donnie said, pulling out a beat up radio that was held together with duct tape. "there are about five different frequencies for the fire department, so we can try them and figure out which one nova's a part of!"

"is nova going to a fire now?" leonardo said, looking up from his picture. splinter was quiet for a moment- it was true that she might not be going to a fire, but...he had a feeling she was, and he wasn't often wrong about these things.

"most likely," he said as donnie turned the radio on. static erupted from the speakers, grating on splinter's sensitive ears and causing them to flatten. "turn it down, donatello!"

"yes, sensei!" donnie said, frantically turning down the volume. from there he tried out the first of the fire department scanner frequencies, which serviced most of the area where they lived.

"kkrrrsshhhzzzzzzttt-ladder company, dispatched to a fire on thirty sixth street-" the dispatcher said. he continued speaking but all four turtles and their father stopped to look at each other.

"isn't that really close to us?" mikey said.

"yeah," leo said, sitting up now. the room was silent for a moment.

"let's go check it out!" mikey said, shocking everyone in the room, but most of all his father.

"go check out the fire? absolutely not!" he said sternly, surprised his son had even suggested it.

"we can't go above ground, mikey," raph sneered, and again, splinter glared at him. " _what_? i didn't say anything bad."

"it is not always what you say, raphael, but rather how you say it. now, apologize to your brother," splinter said, gesturing at mikey.

"'m sorry, mikey," raph mumbled half heartedly, not looking at his brother.

"say it like you mean it, and look at your brother when apologizing," splinter instructed.

raphael with, surprisingly, no huffing, turned to look at michelangelo. "i'm sorry, mikey," he said, much more sincerely this time.

"i didn't mean go aboveground," mikey said. "i mean we could go and try to see if nova's okay through the storm drains."

it wasn't a bad idea, but he didn't want his sons anywhere near a fire, even if they were underground. he had no idea how bad the fire would be, or if there would be any casualties- his sons did not need to see the aftermath of such events.

and...and if something _did_ happen to nova, he didn't want his sons to see it.

"you four are not going to see the fire," splinter said sternly. "but...i will go, and see if nova is safe, if you all promise to stay here and behave."

"how come we can't go too?" donnie asked, looking at his father with curious eyes.

"because," splinter said, counting off the reasons on his four fingered hand, "it is too cold, it is dangerous, and because i said so."

the turtles groaned as his father gave the reason all children hate to hear, but they did not argue with him further.

splinter used the time it took to get to the storm drain closest to the fire to think about his conversation with nova.  
 _  
"you don't think that i, the augur- the clairvoyant, would understand keeping secrets? that i wouldn't understand not being-"_

not being what? it seemed like she was going to say, "not being human" but that couldn't be right. she might be clairvoyant, or... an augur, whatever that meant, but she was human enough to live normally. human enough to hold a job, human enough to live among other humans. if she wasn't human, what was she?

he followed that line of thought. if she wasn't human, it would explain why she seemed so at ease with him not being human either, and why she hadn't told anyone about him. perhaps she felt a kinship with him- she'd confided in him that she didn't have many people that she could talk to about her visions. perhaps she felt lonely, being surrounded by humans but not truly belonging.

why was it that everytime nova seemed close to revealing something important, something happened to interrupt her? he was beginning to wonder if she would ever get the chance to tell him everything.

then, all thoughts stopped when he began to hear sirens in the distance. he began to run towards the sound, anxiety building in him with every step. when the smell of smoke hit his nose, that anxiety turned into something cold and sharp inside him. fear ate at him as he slunk into the shadows under the storm drain. he winced as the sound of the sirens pierced him as fiercely as steel would.

his ears flattened and he put his hands over them, eyes shut tight as the fire raged on and on above him. why did he think this was a good idea? why come here? besides being completely useless because he couldn't be seen, he could barely think straight. hell, he'd had a breakdown from the smell of smoke on nova not more than two weeks ago! why did he think he could do this?!

the sirens did little to keep splinter in the moment- suddenly he was back in japan, trapped under heavy wooden pillars and crushed on top of tang shen's bleeding body as the man he had called his brother left him and his family for dead.

he could barely breathe, leaning heavily on the sewer wall to keep himself standing up and-  
 _  
yoshi was dying he was choking he was suffocating he was going to die like this crushed and burning and helpless and tang shen was she she was bleeding oh god oh god he had to move he had to save her but there was so much blood smoke fire_ _ **death**_

a figure picked up the wreckage that was crushing yoshi, and he looked up to see a woman standing over him. but he felt no relief as he kneeled before her, only fear.

she glared at him with wild eyes- brown eyes that looked golden by the light of the fire that burned in her mouth, sparks flying with every heavy pant. arms that were covered in a strange script were outstretched and yoshi was terrified of her touch, lest she set him ablaze as well.

was this death itself, come to collect him?

" _splinter_?" the spectre hissed with nova's voice, and suddenly splinter was not trapped in a burning building, but pressed up against the sewer wall and staring up at…

"cece, are you okay?" a male voice said, and nova turned to look at him, mouth closing around the flames and splinter _ran_.

he dropped to all fours and sprinted, running on instinct, human and rat combined. everything in him was telling him to get as far away from nova as possible. he ran until his vision was blurry and his lungs were burning from lack of oxygen.

he came to a stop, resting on his hands and knees and sucking in air greedily. his heart raced as he tried to calm himself down.

she was terrifying. she was absolutely terrifying and if he'd had doubts before, he didn't now. she was _not human._ she was...what _was_ she? the way she breathed fire, her otherworldly presence…the way the fire seemed to listen to her, as if she was the one controlling it.

no. most of what he had seen, or thought he had seen, had just been part of his flashback. nova had not been there in japan. she did not set the fire; oroku saki had.

but...she was breathing fire. that much he was certain about. even if it'd been exaggerated by his fear, he knew that the fire he'd seen her breathing out had been real. he didn't know how he knew...he just...had a _feeling_.

that brought him back to the question: what was nova? she was clairvoyant, and could breathe fire. he was almost certain that she was going to tell him that she wasn't human earlier. could she have had any connections with the men who had been in possession of the strange substance that had mutated him and his sons?

no, that didn't seem right either. for the first willing time in years, he thought about the day he was mutated. the men were identical, and moved unnaturally- almost mechanically. they'd had strange speech patterns as well, and after weeks of talking to nova, sometimes for hours at a time, he knew her speech patterns pretty well. it did not match the speech patterns of the strange men.

so, if she was not one of the people who had created the substance, perhaps she was a victim of it. but what could she have been mutated _with_ that would cause her to appear human, be clairvoyant, and also breathe fire? then he remembered - she'd always been able to see the future, even if she couldn't understand or control her visions. so she was not a mutant either.

he found himself coming back to the otherworldliness of her presence, and the thought that had crossed his mind in the depths of his hallucination.

 _was this death itself?_

he did not think nova was some death goddess- now that he was thinking clearly again, he knew that was a foolish idea. but...perhaps she was a supernatural being of some sort. she could see into the future and breathe fire, and she appeared to be human. could she be some sort of yokai? some sort of demon? he wanted to reject that idea, but he could hear his father's voice scold him.

 _"do not be too dismissive of the supernatural world, yoshi. there are many dimensions, many beings, that permeate what we call reality."_

it did fit- nova as a demon...she often spoke of things on a grand scale- she spoke of the galaxy as a whole, and knew other clairvoyants as well...nova being a demon...it fit.

 _"are you okay, cece?"_

cece. her name was cece. it… didn't fit. perhaps it was a nickname? on his way back home splinter considered what it could be short for - cecelia, perhaps?

* * *

"you can breathe fire," splinter said, still trying to wrap his mind around it "and your name is cece."

nova- cece, he corrected himself- choked on the other end. "no, no, no," she sputtered through coughs. "my name is cassandra- please don't call me cece. ever."

"o-oh, alright," splinter said. and he'd been trying so hard to get used to cece. regardless, cassandra did seem to suit her. "but you- you can breathe fire!"

"i can," nov- _cassandra_ said, sounding uncomfortable.

"w... how ?" he pressed.

"uh...i just can?" she said weakly. he wasn't satisfied with this answer. he wanted to know what she was, how she did what she did- he wanted to know everything.

"have you been able to breathe fire your whole life?" he asked, thinking about how she had told him she'd always been clairvoyant. always being able to breathe fire...that must have been a nightmare for her mothers.

"mm, not really. the pyrokinesis...arose when i was twelve, but i always had the potential for it. it was like something waking up inside me," cassandra explained, but he got hung up on one of the words she'd said.

"pyrokinesis?" he repeated.

"i can create and control fire," she said. so she could control fire as well. it made sense, he supposed.

"i see. how did it...awaken?" he asked, echoing back her own words. there was a silence, and he was afraid he'd overstepped his bounds.

"i really can't talk about that- it...it was bad," she said, and he immediately regretted asking. this was clearly a sore subject for her, though his mind did wonder what tragedy had happened- if her fire powers awakened and the result was so traumatizing she couldn't talk about it….

"i didn't mean to bring up unpleasant-" he started, before she once again cut him off. she did that a lot.

"it's fine, just...next question, please," she said, voice still tight with emotion.

"a-alright. why were you breathing fire?" splinter asked. he was surprised he hadn't thought of that question sooner- why had she been breathing fire? she'd been out in the open, and right next to a fire herself.

" 'cause i was overheating. my body temperature is already higher than normal naturally, and then that heat gets trapped in the suit, and then you add the heat of the fire -it got too much," she explained easily, as if she'd said this a million times before. "i can't cool off the same way a human can, so i breathe it all out in the form of fire."

"'the way a human can?'" he repeated, his suspicions confirmed.

" _fuck_ ," cassandra swore, and it was almost comical how it mirrored how he'd reacted earlier, when she revealed that she knew he wasn't human.

"so you are not human either," he said, fear creeping into his voice. he remembered very clearly what his father had said about yokai being heralds of tragedy- _oh no_.

cassandra was called the herald.

she'd said she'd hated the name but could it be because it was so close to the truth? was she a yokai? was she truly a demon? if so, why was she here? was...was she a sign that something was going to happen to him or his sons? she'd been nothing but helpful but...and if she was here because some tragedy was about to unfold, why him? hadn't he been through enough for one lifetime?

"no, i'm not human," she admitted.

"w-what are you, then?" he asked, trying to calm his racing heart.

"what do you think i am?" she asked, sounding curious. he took a deep breath. he had to know.

"are you...are you a demon?" he asked, struggling to voice his suspicions.

there was silence, and then there was laughter. it reminded him of the first real conversation between them, when she'd laughed at all the preconceived notions he'd had about her. in a way, it was the same thing, all over again.

"a demon? you think i'm a demon? oh my god, that's hilarious." cassandra said, trying to get her laughter under control.

"w-well you can not exactly blame me for thinking that! my first impression of you was you breathing fire, with wild eyes and tattooed arms!" splinter spluttered, not mentioning how his first impression of her had been greatly affected by his flashback.

"that's fair i suppo- wait. what's wrong with my tattoos?" cassandra said, sounding very defensive. from the tone in her voice, he knew he'd messed up.

"uh…" he said intelligently, trying to think of an excuse. "nothing, i just...they looked….strange by the light of the fire."

it was a poor lie and they both knew it.

"mmhm," nova said, her tone saturated with passive aggression. "sure."

"nova- cassandra, i didn't mean to insult you, i just…" he said, trailing off, not sure how to explain himself.

"you were frightened. i get it," cassandra said tersely. "look, i've gotta go. we can talk about this tomorrow."

"cassandra, i-" he rushed to reassure her, to explain himself, to do something, but she cut him off.

"i'm not mad," she said, sounding angry. "i'm kinda hurt, but not mad. give me some time to cool off."

and then she hung up.

he felt terrible. he'd just accused his friend of being a demon _and_ insulted her appearance, and now she was hurt. and angry, no matter what she said otherwise. and who was he to talk? he was just as inhuman as she was! except he...he _looked_ inhuman. cassandra did not, but she...acted as if she wasn't human. had she ever been human, the way he had been human once?

he heard a crash from another room, and realized that he'd never actually gotten an answer as to what cassandra actually was. with a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and went to go see what mischief his sons had gotten into.

* * *

 _there was fire everywhere._

 _as he ran through the dojo, trying to find a way out of the maze of hallways, the flames seemed to follow him. they seemed to be alive, like a hungry monster set on devouring yoshi. he flung open the door to one of the side rooms, and shut it behind him. the flames did not eat through the door, surprisingly, and he took a moment to breathe, before sensing a presence in the room with him._

 _he turned around to see her, cassandra, body covered in flames like cloth, and she stared at him unwaveringly. the flames from her gown grew and grew until they nearly filled the room. he backed against the wall, searching for the door handle, only to find a grimy sewer wall behind him._

 _flames licked at his body as it twisted and broke and grew- he watched as the hands he put up to defended himself warped and changed. five fingers became four and nails sharpened into claws as he mutated before her very eyes. the pain of the fire and the mutation was enough to force him to his knees. he was vaguely aware of his own screams over the fire roaring around him._

 _he looked up at her, and she looked down at him, cold, emotionless._

 _"why?" he screamed. "why are you here? am i not allowed any happiness at all?"_

 _she grabbed him by the muzzle from underneath and pulled him to his feet roughly. she leaned in close, and with a voice that didn't sound like cassandra's at all, said "i am not here for you ."_

 _"dad? dad!" he heard raphael say in the distance._

 _cassandra looked in the direction that the voice came from, and his eyes widened and_

splinter woke up with a gasp, sitting up and disrupting two of his sons, who were snuggled up against him. while donnie had gotten the power working again, he still felt the boys should sleep in his room tonight. it was the smallest, which meant it got warm faster, and splinter himself was fairly warm.

but...it wasn't warm in his room. it was freezing cold. even under all his fur, splinter found himself shivering. the imagined heat from his dream contrasted sharply with this reality. he sighed, knowing he would have to wake donnie up in order to fix the power yet again.

he gently shook the gap toothed turtle, trying to rouse him from slumber. donnie did not stir, and his skin was cold as ice under splinter's paw. splinter shook him again, harder this time.

"donatello?" he whispered, trying to stop the growing anxiety in his chest. "donatello, wake up!"

donatello didn't move. he was such a light sleeper- this was unprecedented. two shaking fingers pressed themselves on the side of donnie's neck, finding a steady, if unnaturally slow, pulse. splinter picked up donatello and shook him as if he was a ragdoll, fear overriding everything else right now.

"donatello, wake up!" he said, trying to sound stern, but his voice cracked.

donatello still did not wake up. none of his other sons were moving either, which only made splinter's fear worse. michelangelo talked in his sleep. raphael kicked when he dreamed. leonardo was such a light sleeper that, like his brother, he would have woken up by now.

fear began to cloud splinter's mind. he couldn't think, he could barely breathe, and all he seemed to be able to do was shake his boys in the vain hope that they would wake up. he didn't know how to fix the power. he couldn't fix this.

then, a sound cut through it all. the loud, insistent ringing of a phone.

he leaped up, opening the door to his room with so much force that he nearly ripped it off altogether, and sprinted on all fours to the payphone. he answered it, holding the phone to his ears with both hands, hanging onto it like it was a lifeline.

"nov- cassandra?" he whispered, voice full of fear. not of her- that fear had been pushed to the side. what did that nightmare matter when his reality was quickly becoming something even worse?

"listen, i've had a vision, i know what you look like, i don't care, and i'm coming to bring you back to my apartment," cassandra said, voice even and measured but with an undercurrent of urgency.

"w-what?" he said, struggling to keep up. she knew?

"it's too cold," she said slowly, "and your boys are in danger."

"in danger?" he echoed. was this why she was here? was this the tragedy she was supposed to herald? but- no, she was trying to avert this tragedy. with a start, he realized- that's all she'd ever tried to do. not to simply announce tragedy, but try to avert it.

"of freezing to death. look," she said, sighing. "you've got no reason to be afraid of me. i need you to trust-"

" _hurry_ ," he said, cutting her off. it didn't matter if he trusted her or not. nothing else mattered but getting his sons to safety. to warmth.

"i'm already on my way," cassandra said, and he could hear a car door close. "i've got to go, i'm driving. give me at least ten minutes."

"hurry," he repeated, and hung up. he looked around the too-quiet lair, and then sprinted back to his sons.

* * *

author's note: so, now you all know why splinter was so afraid.

also, the theme of these two chapters is "what cassandra experiences =/= what splinter experiences"


	8. call to paola

he could hear footsteps in the distance as he lit candles, for the light and for the tiny amounts of heat they emitted. he left the door to his room open, so that cassandra could find him- they couldn't wait in the main room, it was cold as ice in there.

"splinter?" cassandra called out as she ran into the dojo, two sweatshirts in her hands. she knew the path from her vision, but she wanted to let him know she was here, so as to not alarm him.

"in here," he said, voice wavering. she slowed down her approach, walking briskly to stand behind him. he turned around, looking away from his sleeping sons, and rose to his full height. for the first time, splinter and cassandra got a good look at each other.

she was taller than he'd expected- far taller, and if he'd still been human, he was fairly certain she would be taller than him. she seemed to be about his age as well. cassandra looked like she'd just woken up- which she probably had- with her golden, curly hair impossibly messy and tangled. now that he had the chance to really look at her up close, without anything clouding his vision, he saw the triangular scar that ran from the middle of her left cheek down to her jaw. it started out thin, but widened to about one inch at her jaw.

she wore grey sweatpants and an old jacket, and her disheveled appearance did wonders for splinter's fear of her. she didn't look threatening- not at all. her eyes, which he'd previously seen as cold and uncaring were filled with unabashed curiosity and concern.

he was taller than she'd expected as well- he had to be at least seven feet tall. and, just as her vision had shown her, he was indeed a giant rat. he was certainly more humanoid than a rat, and she knew he'd had a completely different life before coming to new york city, so she could assume there was a story there. he'd most likely been human before he became what he was now.

his fur was brown, with black and white markings, and there were wisps of longer fur at the end of his chin which almost looked like the beginning of a human beard. he had what appeared to be identical cuts on each of his ears- it had to be intentional, there was no way the cuts could be that symmetrical on accident. she met his eyes, and again was struck by how beautiful they were.

they were also filled with anxiety and fear.

"hey," she said, finally filling the silence. she didn't really know what to say.

he nodded, also at a loss for words. "hello."

she looked down at her hands, and the sweatshirts she was holding, and snapped out of her trance like state. "i brought sweatshirts- i only have two, but i figured it was better than nothing. my car's still running, so it'll be warm when we get there," she said.

"thank you," he said, voice full of emotion. "for...for everything. for offering to help us, for...for still coming to help us, despite knowing what we are."

cassandra looked up at him, and grinned. "listen, i've seen a lot extraordinary things in my life, so if you were hoping to impress me, i'm afraid you'll have to step it up."

he was at a loss for words. he could only stare, mouth slightly open.

"let's get going," cassandra said, taking another step closer to him, and snapping him out of his stupor.

"yes," he nodded and then moved to the side so both of them could stand in the doorway. when she moved to stand next to him, he realized how warm the room had gotten since cassandra had arrived- she seemed to radiate heat herself.

all four of her friend's sons were wrapped up in what appeared to be every blanket they owned. she knelt down, resting the back of her hand on one of the turtles' head's, trying to keep her panic to herself. splinter and his boys needed her to be calm right now. she could fix this.

she gently picked up the turtle whose head she placed her hand on, and where she held him she radiated heat through her hands, spreading warmth through the turtle's small body. she pulled one of her sweatshirts over his head, and stood up to hand him off to splinter.

the first thing splinter noticed when cassandra handed him raphael was how warm his previously freezing cold son was. his hands brushed against hers during the hand off, and he opened his mouth to comment on his son's sudden change in temperature when cassandra cut him off and grabbed his hand.

"you're freezing too!" she said, almost scoldingly. he felt heat radiate from her hand and spread across his body rapidly, chasing the chill from his bones in a matter of seconds. it felt like his ears had popped, but all throughout his body instead. the entire experience was a little dizzying.

"w-wha...what was that?" he asked, holding onto raphael as cassandra tugged her second sweatshirt onto donatello.

"oh, uh, heat manipulation. comes with the pyrokinesis," she said. she probably should have explained that to him before using it on him, but considering how worried the both of them were, she figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal. "don't worry, in such small doses, it's harmless."

"small doses?" he repeated as cassandra began to move faster. he grabbed onto her words, using them to distract himself from his panic.

"yeah, i mean...if i turned up the heat too much, i could, theoretically, cook someone from the inside out," cassandra said, holding donatello in her arms. before he could say anything, she continued. "but, i've been using my powers to help warm others for about twenty years, give or take a few. so i know what i'm doing."

he nodded, deciding to put his trust in her abilities.

"now, can you carry…" she trailed off, waiting for him to supply the turtle's name.

"donatello," he said, then gestured to each turtle as he said their name. "raphael, leonardo, and michelangelo."

she smiled softly, and nodded. "can you carry donatello, or should we try to make a sling from one of the blankets?"

"a sling, i think," he said. cassandra nodded again, and took the thinnest of the blankets as splinter gently set raphael down. she handed the blanket to splinter, and he fashioned a makeshift sling out of it. it was something he'd done frequently in the weeks after his mutation to carry around his sons until they found this place, where they'd settled down. it was felt strange to leave this place.

once splinter had tied the blanket around himself, cassandra placed donatello gently in the sling, and moved around to pick up raphael and hand him back to splinter, so he didn't have to bend over and disturb the turtle snuggled against his back.

"i can carry michelangelo and leonardo," she said, crouching down and scooping up the last two turtles easily. she turned around to face splinter. "are you ready to go?"

he nodded. "yes, i'm ready."

"let's go," she said, walking past him. as they left the lair, splinter felt fear gnaw at him, but...it wasn't fear of cassandra. what was it then? fear of simply leaving? that...could be it. this place had been his safe haven for four years, and now he was leaving it. and who knows what awaited them at cassandra's apartment? what if they got caught? what if his fears concerning cassandra weren't as unfounded as he hoped?

as cassandra lead them through dimly light tunnels, she noticed that splinter was falling behind. she looked over her shoulder and smiled at him reassuringly.

"doing alright?" she asked casually. she slowed her pace to allow him to catch up- she could only hear him approach by the soft 'swish swish' of his tail moving back and forth.

his eyes snapped up to look at her, and he nodded.

"yes, i suppose i got lost in my own thoughts," he said apologetically.

the next few minutes passed in silence as they continued on. eventually, however, cassandra looked back and said, "we're nearly there."

"how are we going to do this?" splinter said, anxiety building as they approached the steps up to the sidewalk. "i mean-"

"no one's going to catch us going to the car, and when we get to the apartment building, i'll carry in raphael and donatello, who, with their hoods up, will look like normal kids. you'll climb up the fire escape with michelangelo and leonardo after i give the all clear, and then we'll be home free," cassandra explained, stopping at the bottom of the steps and turning to look at him.

he blinked. "you've...certainly thought this through," he said. "when did you have time to come up with this plan?"

"don't need to come up with plans when i can just see what's gonna work," she answered with a wink. "i was looking ahead on the walk back, which is why i was so quiet. usually you can't pay me to shut up," she said, making a joke at her own expense.

"so...you can't see us getting caught?" he asked. she shook her head.

"of course i can see us getting caught- there's always a risk- but i can see how to avoid us getting caught," she said. "speaking of risks- we have to move now. we aren't going to have another chance to make a break for it anytime soon."

he nodded, and cassandra turned and started running up the stairs. it was fairly easy for him to keep up with her as she led him down a surprisingly quiet street- she must have planned- or foreseen- this too.

cassandra's car was only about a hundred feet from the staircase. it was a fairly unassuming car- a little beat up, and it's sky blue paint looked dull and grey in the winter gloom. when they reached the car, cassandra seemed to realize something, and turned to splinter, whose ears were standing straight up, alert.

"my keys are in my coat pocket- can you get them? my hands are full." cassandra said, nodding at his sons in her arms. he nodded, shifting raphael around so he could reach into cassandra's pockets and unlock her car. he placed raphael in the middle of the backseat- they could definitely fit all four boys here- and then leonardo next to him. cassandra scooped donatello out of the sling, and gestured at the front seat.

"you get in, i'll put these two in on the other side," she said, stepping around him. he almost clumsily got into the car- it'd been so long since he'd been in a car, not that he'd ever spent much time in one. for most of his life, he could just walk to where he wanted to go.

his tail complicated things a little bit. he couldn't sit against the seat or else he'd squish his tail, and he didn't quite know what to do with it, so he placed it next to his legs. after placing michelangelo and donatello in the backseat, cassandra got in on the driver's side.

as they drove away, splinter turned to look back at his sons- now that he had time to think, and was thinking more clearly, he tried to figure out why they would not wake up. he didn't know much about hypothermia, which is what he assumed his boys were suffering from.

"do you know if-"

" _fuck-_ do turtles hibernate?" cassandra nearly shouted, spooking splinter with her outburst.

"i-i...don't know?" he replied, ears flattened as he answered her. then he started to think- if they did hibernate, perhaps this was...normal? they'd just wake up...eventually.

"paola would know, she takes care of the critters near her cabin- including turtles," cassandra said, taking one hand off the wheel and fishing around in her other coat pocket for her phone. "here, call paola and put her on speakerphone."

she handed him...a screen. a small rectangular screen with a white casing around it and star and flower stickers on the back. he stared at it, unsure of how to turn it on, let alone call someone. he tried pressing one of the buttons on the side, but nothing happened.

"oh, right, sorry," she said, taking it back and pressing another button on the side and causing the screen to light up. cassandra glanced between the road and her phone- she tried not to use her phone, as she could rarely adequately focus on two things at once, but she wasn't too concerned right now.

she tapped paola's name, which had a robot face and a paintbrush next to it. the phone rang only twice before she picked up.

"cassandra?" paola answered.

"yeah, it's me. you're on speakerphone, paola, so behave," cassandra said sternly as splinter held the phone.

"or what, you'll spank me?" said a rather snarky voice from the other end.

they stopped at a red light, the silence in the car suffocating. cassandra had never wanted to die more in her life than she did at that moment.

cassandra turned to look at splinter and said, "i'm going to get out of the car now, and if you could just run me over with it, that'd be great."

splinter had no idea what to say to any of this, and just stared at cassandra, mouth slightly open.

"i am so sorry," paola said on the other end. cassandra let out a huff through her nose, irritated by paola's antics. any other day, in front of any other person- cassandra would have been fine with it. but right now? she didn't need this.

"the reason i called," she said, ignoring everything that just happened, "was to ask you about turtles."

"turtles," paola repeated.

"yes."

"you called me at one in the morning to talk about turtles," paola said, deadpan.

"it's not like you sleep, paola," cassandra said crankily. " _anyway-_ i wanted to know if turtles hibernated."

"they do," paola said. "just like any other cold blooded animal."

splinter and cassandra simultaneously let out huge sighs of relief.

"so this is normal?" cassandra asked, relief clear in her voice. "it's normal for them to hibernate?"

"yes," paola answered, sounding puzzled. "but you should still- who's with you, cassandra?"

"splinter, and he knows," cassandra answered, before paola even got the chance to ask the second question.

"good. well then, you should still warm them up with your powers, depending on how cold they are- they can still freeze to death."

"already done," cassandra said, a determined smile on her face. things were going to be okay.

meanwhile, splinter had sunk down in his seat as best he could, weak with relief. this was normal. this was normal and - cassandra had gotten there just in time to save his sons, hadn't she?

"just make sure they're hydrated by keeping them in water and they'll be fine. as long as you keep them warm, they'll wake up," paola said.

"thank you so much paola," cassandra said.

"yes, thank you," splinter added, speaking to paola for the first time.

paola was silent for a moment. "you're welcome."

"i gotta go," cassandra said, taking the phone back. "i'll talk to you tomorrow."

"alright," paola said, and abruptly hung up.

there was silence in the car for a few moments as they both relaxed- now that they knew the turtles would be fine, both cassandra and splinter could breathe easier.

cassandra reached out and put a hand on his upper arm, warmth seeping into his fur through his sleeve. he turned to look at her, somewhat confused by the sudden contact. she caught his eyes and smiled.

"everything's gonna be okay," she said, and splinter realized that this was supposed to be a comforting gesture. he smiled faintly and nodded as she moved her hand away.

"we were lucky paola was awake this late," splinter said after a while.

cassandra snorted. "it has nothing to do with luck."

"what do you mean?" he inquired.

"like i said, paola doesn't sleep- ever," she said, turning a corner. she bit her lip. time to start being honest. it'd be better to ease him into the truth anyway. "she's a robot."

"a robot," he repeated, voice flat. she flicked her eyes between the road and his face, trying gauge his reaction.

"well, android is probably a better word, but...yeah," cassandra said.

splinter sighed and rubbed his temples. "why has my life become a science fiction novel over these past four years?" he mumbled, sounding tired more than anything.

"well, it's about to get a lot more science fiction-y," cassandra said, parking near her apartment building. she turned off the car, looked him dead in the eye, and told him, "i'm an alien."

she let that sink in for only a second before gesturing to the fire escape. "now, i'm on the third floor, so when i give you the all clear, come on up."

and then she moved to get out of the car.

this seemed to jolt splinter out of the shocked stupor that her admission had put him in, and reached out, grabbing her wrist and demanding, "what do you mean you're an alien?"

"i mean," she said, turning back to look at him, "i'm not from earth."

his grip lessened enough for her to pull her wrist away without ripping it away. she finished getting out of the car and picked donatello and raphael out of the back, putting up their hoods so they did, in fact, look just like human kids wearing too big sweatshirts.

as she walked up the steps to the door, she could faintly hear splinter say, "what the _fuck_?"

her heart was beating fast as she took the steps two at a time up to her apartment. she'd never really done this before- everywhere she'd gone, everyone she'd met- they were already a part of the greater galactic community. she'd never pulled back the curtain, and said, "look! there's an entire universe, full of life, just out of your reach!" she'd never had to. whether or not they chose to be a part of the galactic community was their business, but at the very least they _knew_ about it.

she was a little more than worried about how splinter would take all of this. she sighed as she reached her floor. she hoped he'd be understanding- after all, he was a giant rat man with four humanoid turtles for sons.

she held her keys in the hand that was supporting donatello- with a bit of shuffling around, she managed to unlock her door. she nearly tripped over the blankets that she'd left in the hallway- really, what was the point of that? cassandra wondered where to put the turtles down and settled on the couch, placing them there gently as she walked to her bedroom window.

she opened it and stepped onto the fire escape, looking down at her car. splinter was in the backseat now, leonardo tucked away in the sling and michelangelo in his arms. he was ready to run at her signal- and with a wave, there it was.

he got out of the car slowly, again relying on his sensitive ears to tell him if the coast was clear. once he had quietly shut the door, he started sprinting to the fire escape on the side of the apartment building. cassandra quietly started climbing down the fire escape after realizing that splinter was going to have to jump up to it- there was no way they could bring down the ladder without waking someone up.

however, splinter had already figured this out, and changed course, angling himself towards the brick wall instead of directly under the fire escape. he jumped, not for the fire escape but instead to use the wall as a type of springboard, launching himself off it and landing on the railing. he quickly used his free hand to grab onto the landing above them to steady himself.

he took immense pleasure in the awed look on cassandra's face and the way her mouth hung open. splinter hopped down, quiet as a mouse, his confusion over cassandra's revelation momentarily forgotten as he allowed himself to take pride in the fact that he had impressed this clairvoyant alien.

"woah," she finally managed to say, causing splinter to smirk. it'd been so long since he'd gotten to show off to anyone other than his sons- could anyone blame him for relishing this moment?

and then light came on in the window next to them, sending them both into a panic. they flew up the stairs, splinter wincing at cassandra's loud footsteps. she stood beside the window and ushered him in. when she didn't follow him in, he turned to her with questioning eyes.

"i have to say something or she'll just start a ruckus. the bathroom's right next door, so feel free to start filling up the tub with warm water," cassandra whispered as the window below them opened.

"capella? is that you making all that noise?" hollered a rather cranky old woman. cassandra leaned on the railing, not in the mood to deal with this.

"yup, it's me, mrs. smith" she said. "i...fell down the stairs. you know how clumsy i can be."

"how someone like you became a firefighter…" cassandra could hear her say as she closed the window.

"mean bitch," cassandra muttered as she turned around, only to see splinter standing there, having heard the entire exchange.

"lovely neighbor," he commented dryly as she came in through the window.

"she just hates me because i'm bi," cassandra said tiredly.

"bye?" splinter repeated, confused.

cassandra shook her head as she led him into the bathroom. "bi as in bisexual," cassandra clarified.

"oh," splinter said. "i see."

neither of them knew where to go with that conversation, so splinter changed the subject after a few seconds of silence.

"where are raphael and donatello?" splinter asked as cassandra sat on the edge of the tub and turned on the water.

"on the couch," she replied, putting her hand under the faucet to test the temperature. splinter gently placed leonardo in the tub on one end, and then michelangelo on the other end.

"i'll go get them," splinter said, standing up and walking out of the bathroom. as he walked through cassandra's apartment he was struck by how normal it seemed. if he didn't already know about what cassandra was he would have never suspected anything.

he picked up raphael and donatello, noticing that they seemed to be breathing more deeply and they weren't as pale and lifeless as earlier. they seemed to be simply sleeping now, as they would any other night. he smiled, and kissed both of his sons on the forehead.

when he walked back into the bathroom, cassandra had filled the bathtub halfway and was shutting it off. "i didn't want them to be able to slip under the water and…" cassandra said softly. he nodded, sitting down next to her with donnie and raph in his arms. he noticed that she'd pushed up her sleeves, and again he could see the tattoos covering her arms.

they- they were strange symbols! it wasn't like he was wrong in that! he supposed she had a right to be angry, however, since he did think that her tattoos were evidence of her being something sinister.

he could have said he just didn't know any better- that only thugs and gangsters had tattoos in japan- but that sounded weak even to him.

"i don't know what we're going to do with them," splinter said, turning his attention back to his sleeping sons.

cassandra hummed in agreement. "i was thinking the same thing myself."

"i was surprised...at how normal your apartment is," splinter admitted. cassandra raised her eyebrow and smiled before breaking out into giggles.

"what did you expect? the interior of a spaceship?" cassandra said between laughs.

"well i- i didn't know what to expect!" he said. cassandra hid her mouth behind the back of her hand as her laughter quieted.

"nah, nah, i keep all my alien junk in a bi- that's it!" cassandra said, standing suddenly.

"the alien junk?" he repeated, confused. nonetheless, he got up and followed her, setting his sons down against the tub.

"no, the bin it's in! it's big enough so that if we take all the stuff out, we should be able to fill it with water and put raph and donnie inside," she said, walking into her bedroom and opening the small closet. there was an unassuming grey bin there that cassandra dragged out next to her bed. splinter stood next to her, curious about the contents of the bin.

"i'm from old capella," cassandra said as she opened the bin, revealing four futuristic looking objects. "which would be...a fairly long way away actually. certainly farther away than new capella."

"would be?" he questioned as she began pulling things out of the bin. "what happened to old capella?"

cassandra stopped, looking down at the bin, and her eyes were filled with such sadness that he regretted asking her. "the capellan civil war began when i was eleven years old, and when i was twelve, a...being? a creature? i don't know how to describe atlas. she was set loose after millions of years of containment and she opened up a black hole on the surface of old capella, tearing the planet apart."

"wait- capella was a planet?" splinter asked. "i had assumed it was a country or a city. this...atlas creature had the power to open a black hole- the power to destroy an entire planet?"

cassandra laughed hoarsely. "yeah. she was terrifying."

once the objects- a small, circular thing that had a lens in the center of it, what appeared to be simply two metal bars glued together, an all white laptop, and an old cube with a large purple button on it- had been taken out, what remained looked oddly...normal. there were five books written in a strange language, and splinter recognized the symbols from cassandra's tattoos. the pages had a strange quality to them- they were thicker than paper, and had a sort of sheen to them, like a screen would. cassandra picked up two pictures and set them aside in a way that splinter couldn't see them. the very last thing in the bin was what appeared to be a weapon. it looked like a chakram, with a sturdy grey cord tied around it. he gave her a questioning look.

"what? you can't always fight fire with fire, you know," cassandra joked. "anyway, let's get to work on this." she picked up the bin, flipping it up for emphasis.

as he followed her back into the bathroom, he ran over her story in his head. she set the bin perpendicular to the tub, and pushed it against the wall before grabbing the handheld shower head and placing it inside the bin. as she turned it on, he realized two things.

"didn't that woman call you 'capella' earlier?" he asked. cassandra nodded.

"yeah, that's the last name i usually take when i'm on planets where last names are common," she explained as splinter took the sweatshirts off of donatello and raphael.

"so last names were uncommon on old capella?" he inferred.

"yup- naming conventions are different on capella. there's your core name, and then the family suffix. cass is my core name, and...well, n-d-r-a is my suffix," cassandra said awkwardly.

"so...the rest of your family- their names all end in n-d-r-a?" splinter asked.

cassandra shook her head. "no, it's...that's a long story," she said, sighing. "another day, okay?"

"alright," splinter said, picking up raphael and placing him in the bin. sure enough, he fit. "you said atlas was released when you were twelve, and that your pyrokinesis awoke when you were twelve as well...is there any correlation between the two?"

"yeah," cassandra said, sounding exhausted.

"another day?" he asked gently. he didn't want to push her- she had told him a lot in one night.

"i'd just...rather not get into my childhood trauma at two in the morning," she said, with a huff of a laugh.

it hit splinter then- cassandra had lost her entire world at such a young age. whether or not she'd lived on new capella since...it must have be so hard for her. he wanted to comfort her, but he couldn't find the words. he remembered how cassandra had tried to comfort him in the car and reached out as she turned from him to shut off the water, and placed his hand on her shoulder hesitantly.

she stiffened for a second, not expecting the sudden contact, and then turned and smiled. it was not the grin that she wore to mask every emotion, but a genuine, tired smile. she put her hand over his and squeezed it appreciatively. he pulled away to put donatello in the bin, and cassandra stood there awkwardly.

"you can take the bed if you want," cassandra offered. splinter looked around, feeling conflicted. picking up on this, she continued. "i mean, you could stay here with them too."

he nodded. "i would rather stay with them," he said. "after everything that's happened tonight, i...don't want to be too far from them."

"alright," cassandra said, sinking down to sit against the tub, leaving enough space for him to sit in the middle, between her and the bin. he blinked, surprised. he hadn't expected cassandra to stay here with him.

as he sat next to her, he realized something. "you know, you haven't once asked about me- about us," he said, gesturing at his sons.

"you can tell me in the morning," cassandra said, waving her hand. she yawned, and he was surprised to notice how tired he was. the panic and adrenaline had finally faded from his system, and left him absolutely exhausted. now that he could relax, he found he could barely keep his eyes open.

"cassandra," he said, sitting up straighter, trying to fend off slumber. "why did you come here? to earth?"

cassandra turned her head, and opened one sleepy eye. "sunflowers," she mumbled, as if that made all the sense in the world.

"sunflowers?" he repeated, confused.

she hummed. "yeah. tell you more...in the morning."

cassandra didn't say anything after that, and after a few minutes her even breathing indicated she'd fallen asleep. he tried to sort things out- to figure out how he felt about all of this. cassandra being an alien...it made about as much sense as her being a demon. and how did sunflowers fit into all of this? did the cheerful flower have some sort of cosmic significance?

and what about him and his sons? where...where did they go from here? how long would they have to stay with cassandra? how long would his sons stay asleep? how...

his eyelids started to droop and he felt sleep creep up on him again, except this time he let it take him. he supposed he'd just figure it out in the morning.

 _ **fin.**_

* * *

author's note: first of all, thank you! thank you to everyone who's followed this fic, to everyone who's left a comment or a fave! it means the world to me!

anyway! what's coming up next is an about 2-3 chapter fic called "in the morning" which will be about everything that happens while the turtles stay at cassandra's apartment, followed by a MUCH longer fic "winter in the woods." think of this as just the end of season one.

feel free to reach out to me at any time on my tumblr, lightningrooks

thank you,  
rooks


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